The Scarecrow
- Program
- The Scarecrow
- Producing Organization
- WGBH Educational Foundation
- Contributing Organization
- Library of Congress (Washington, District of Columbia)
- AAPB ID
- cpb-aacip/516-610vq2t29w
- NOLA Code
- SCRC
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- Description
- Program Description
- 2 hour program produced by WGBH and initially distributed by NET in 1958.
- Program Description
- The Scarecrow is the tale of an abandoned woman?s revenge on her cruel lover. In this two-hour play by the early twentieth century playwright, Percy MacKaye, Goody Ricksby, sided by the Devil, transforms a scarecrow into a flesh and blood human being. Based on Nathaniel Hawthorne?s short story, ?Feathertop,? the play is performed by members of the Boston University School of Fine and Applied Arts. Goody Ricksby names the scarecrow Lord Ravensbane and has him assume the role of her illegitimate son by her lover, Justice Merton, who is now a respectable magistrate in Puritan New England. Ravensbane is accepted in Merton?s home and inspired by the experience of human love from Merton?s niece, the scarecrow becomes a whole man for a day. Standing beside a magic mirror, which reveals the true nature of the person it reflects, he confesses o the girl that he is really made of husks and pumpkin. After breaking his pipe, which is the source of his temporary life, he falls before the mirror, which reflects not a scarecrow, but a normal man. Thus we know that in his last mortal act he has indeed performed a manly deed. The scarecrow was published in 1908 and MacKaye has modified and added characters to Hawthorne?s original work. He substituted the element of human sympathy for that of irony. The play was a forecast of experimental drama which was to flourish after World War I, and of the folk playwrights who were to draw on American legend, history and tradition. MacKaye called the play a ?tragedy of the ludicrous.? It was performed first by the Harvard Drama Club in 1909. Its first professional performance was at the Middlesex Theatre in Middlesex, Conn., in 1910, and again in New York by practically the same cast, at the Garrick Theatre in 1911. Performances in other countries include one in England at the Theatre Royal in Bristol, and another at the Deutsche Theatre in Berlin, Germany, under the direction of Max Reinhardt. Percy MacKaye, the son of Steele MacKaye and Mary Medbury, was born in New York City on March 8, 1875, he wrote 16 plays, 10 masques and 4 operas. (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche)
- Broadcast Date
- 1958-00-00
- Asset type
- Program
- Genres
- Drama
- Media type
- Moving Image
- Credits
-
-
Performing Group:
Boston University School of Fine and Applied Arts Members
Producing Organization: WGBH Educational Foundation
Writer: Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 1804-1864
Writer: MacKaye, Percy, 1875-1956
- AAPB Contributor Holdings
-
Library of Congress
Identifier: 2452810-1 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: 16mm film
Generation: Copy: Access
Color: B&W
-
Library of Congress
Identifier: 2452810-1 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: 16mm film
Generation: Copy: Access
Color: B&W
-
Library of Congress
Identifier: 2452810-1 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: 16mm film
Generation: Copy: Access
Color: B&W
-
Library of Congress
Identifier: 2453127-1 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: 16mm film
Generation: Copy: Access
Color: B&W
-
Library of Congress
Identifier: 2453127-1 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: 16mm film
Generation: Copy: Access
Color: B&W
-
Library of Congress
Identifier: 2453127-1 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: 16mm film
Generation: Copy: Access
Color: B&W
If you have a copy of this asset and would like us to add it to our catalog, please contact us.
- Citations
- Chicago: “The Scarecrow,” 1958-00-00, Library of Congress, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed June 6, 2026, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-516-610vq2t29w.
- MLA: “The Scarecrow.” 1958-00-00. Library of Congress, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. June 6, 2026. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-516-610vq2t29w>.
- APA: The Scarecrow. Boston, MA: Library of Congress, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-516-610vq2t29w