Pictorial Illusionism: The Theatre of Steele MacKaye

In the first full-length critical study of the work of Steele MacKaye - director, actor, inventor, painter, theorist, and writer - J. A. Sokalski draws on a wealth of primary sources to examine the aims and methods of Steele's unified theory of pictorial illusionism. Sokalski argues that MacKaye's infamous failure, the colossal Spectatorium theatre for the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, was the most complete realization of his illusionary aesthetic and explores MacKaye's influence on Buffalo Bill Cody's successful stage show.
Sokalski documents late nineteenth-century stage practices and argues for a greater recognition of the significance of pictorial illusionism in the American theatre. This book is an account of one of the theatre's most inventive artists and the visual aesthetic that fuelled the path he blazed.