Percy MacKaye / Our American Drama

At the Section meeting on June 11, I gave a lecture presentation on American poet, playwright, biographer, and impresario Percy MacKaye, along with a look at the extended MacKaye family: Steele MacKaye, Arvia MacKaye, Christy MacKaye, Robin MacKaye, Marion MacKaye.

This introductory talk was given to plant a seed for future discussion. If the spirit of the time permits, more presentations will occur in the fall.

The Years 1623, 1923, 2023 / Literature of the Rosicrucians

Percy MacKaye and his father Steele MacKaye had a lifelong journey with Shakespeare and Hamlet — Hamlet the play and Hamlet the character. I introduced this topic last night. Shakespeare and Hamlet could well be considered spirit guides for Percy and Steele.

Of course, the MacKaye family also had a destiny connection to the Christmas Conference in 1923 and to the second Goetheanum and to Albert Steffen. I discussed all this last night — including Arvia MacKaye’s visit to Dornach in 1923 and her attendance at the Christmas Conference.

I mention the year 1623 because of the MacKaye family connection to Shakespeare. 1623 is the year of the publication of the First Folio.

The First Folio of Shakespeare, along with The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz, might well be regarded as among the most significant Rosicrucian publications of our Present Age, if not the most significant, as some readers have suggested.

The 400-year anniversary of the First Folio occurs in 2023. Is it time to start talking about Shakespeare again in our Section meetings?

Maybe Percy MacKaye has brought him back . . . ?

“The actual must die
Eventually.
Only the impossible
Survives, prodding the actual
To change, eternally.”

 

— Percy MacKaye, Always the Cross

The First Folio: 1623