There were no half-way measures about Mackaye; things of the theatre
and principles of the theatre caught and held his interest. At the
very last of his life, while he was at work on his "Spectatorus,"
which foreran the American idea of a Hippodrome, and which might have,
in years to come, happily housed his son Percy's "Caliban," he was
at the same time attempting to combine with it an educational aspect
which would lift it above the mere spectacular. The symbolical notes
which he handed his son--who was then a mere boy--for the writing of
a Chorus, show the profound approach he took to all his work. Such
seriousness is one of the consuming traits of Percy, whose sense of
humour is probably better developed than that of his father, and whose
sway of literary expression is fuller.
For none of Steele Mackaye's dramas were written with any idea of
being read. They were all constructed by one fully alive to the
theatre and its demands. In view of this, it is surprising how well
"Paul Kauvar" flows in type. The minor editorial changes made for this
edition by Mr. Percy Mackaye are based on several manuscripts, and
the result is the first authentic text of the play. Steele Mackaye was
always gripped in fascination by mob psychology, always eager to write
of the Reign of Terror. The version here used is the mature one, given
its premiere at Buffalo, New York, May 30, 1887. But Mr. Percy Mackaye
is authority for the statement that while his father was studying with
Delsarte, in Paris, he became enamoured of the Revolution, and there
are two manuscripts extant, "The Denouncer" and "The Terror," which
indicate that he was chipping away at his theme very early in life. He
recast these sketches in the summer of 1875, while at Brattleborough,
Vt., where he had a cottage on the Bliss Farm, familiar now to Rudyard
Kipling lovers because of the fact that here, too, Kipling wrote, at a
later day.
The years 1875 and 1887 are the mileposts between which stretched a
long period of successful play-writing by Steele Mackaye. By '75, he
had already written "Marriage" (1872), "Arkwright's Wife" (1873) and
"Clancarty" (1874). There followed quickly "Rose Michel" (1875, in
collaboration), "Queen and Woman" (1876, an adaptation from Hugo),
"Won at Last" (1877), "Through the Dark" (1878), "An Iron Will" (1879,
later to be called "Hazel Kirke," 1880), "A Fool's Errand" (1881, an
adaptation), "Dakolar" (1884), "In Spite of All" (1885), and "Rienzi"
(1886). Then came the present play, followed by "A Noble Rogue" (1888)
and "Money Mad," modelled after Hugo.
In correspondence with Mr. Percy Mackaye, it is significant to hear
him insisting on his father's change in sociological bearing having
taken place while writing "Paul Kauvar." Timeliness was given to its
initial presentment through the fact that at the moment some Chicago
anarchists had been on trial, and were condemned to death. Writing of
the incident, William Dean Howells recalls that:
At the house of Judge Pryor, in 1887, several of us came
together in sympathy with your father, who was trying--or had
vainly tried--to get the United States Supreme Court to
grant the Chicago anarchists a new trial. With your father I
believed that the men had been convicted on an unjust ruling,
and condemned for their opinions, not for a proven crime. I
remember your father's wrathful fervour, and the instances he
alledged of police brutality. [Letter to Mr. Percy Mackaye.]
In a published interview, Mackaye expressed his concern for the case;