Mourning the Loss of Peter Saccio, Celebrated Shakespearean Scholar

Peter Saccio, Leon Black Professor Emeritus of Shakespearean Studies and Professor of English, died on Aug. 19. He was 83 years old. 

"A brilliant and beloved professor and celebrated Shakespearean scholar, Peter was a sought-after luminary for countless Dartmouth students, colleagues, and alumni, as well as friends from across the country and abroad, over the course of more than four decades on the faculty and for many years after," Dean Elizabeth F. Smith said in a message to the Arts and Sciences community. "With his remarkable erudition, spirited wit, and deep sense of humanity, Peter made a lasting impact on our campus, the Upper Valley performing arts community, and far beyond."

Saccio was born in 1941 in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in Bethlehem, Connecticut. He discovered his love of Shakespeare as a child and chose to attend Yale University to pursue a career in drama. Although he persuaded Yale's drama department to produce Henry VI, the king role went instead to his classmate, Sam Waterston—an experience that prompted Saccio to recognize his relative strengths and set his sights on scholarship. He earned a BA in philosophy at Yale, followed by a PhD in English from Princeton University, where he held Woodrow Wilson and Jacobus fellowships.

Saccio joined the faculty at Dartmouth in 1966, teaching primarily Shakespeare and modern British drama. He served as vice chair and chair of the Department of English, and was successively given two endowed chairs at Dartmouth, the Willard Professorship in Oratory and Drama and the Leon D. Black Professorship in Shakespearean Studies. He retired in 2007.

In addition to many scholarly articles on Shakespeare and reviews of professional productions, Saccio authored two books, The Court Comedies of John Lyly: A Study in Allegorical Dramaturgy (1969) and Shakespeare's English Kings: History, Chronicle, and Drama (1977). The latter became a classic in the field, and to Saccio's delight, a popular resource for actors and directors seeking to understand their characters. He also edited Thomas Middleton's comedy A Mad World, My Masters, for the Oxford Complete Works of Thomas Middleton.

In 1990, the Teaching Company (now Great Courses) began recording and marketing scholarly lectures, and Saccio's lectures on Shakespeare were among the original eight that were offered and distributed on CDs and DVDs. The lectures brought Saccio to audiences around the world, who sang his praises. "Professor Saccio's love affair with Shakespeare resounds clearly through all his talks," one student wrote. "His enthusiasm is infectious; it is serious but relieved with humor and asides where appropriate."

Saccio was also regularly invited to deliver lectures at major theatrical venues, including Shakespeare's Globe in London, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival, and the Great River Shakespeare Festival in Minnesota. He gave lectures to Dartmouth Alumni Clubs across the country, often collaborating with the late Charles Wood, Daniel Webster Professor of History, and on alumni cruises in Europe. He also lectured extensively in public libraries for the Vermont Humanities Council.

At Dartmouth, Saccio's classes were often oversubscribed and he was cited as a favorite professor by many alumni, including the Class of 1971. The recipient of the John M. Manley Huntington Award for Outstanding Teaching, he was especially admired for combining his vast knowledge of Shakespeare with practical insights about theater production.

"He had a real sense of how performances are created," recalls Professor of Theater Peter Hackett '75. "My friends and I who were leaning towards acting, directing, and design had great affection for Saccio because he was able to open up the world of Shakespeare as well as our understanding of how these plays were brought to life."

Among Saccio's most active commitments at Dartmouth was the welfare of gay and lesbian students. He was faculty advisor to the gay student organization (which had several different names during the 1980s and 1990s) and chair of the Board of Trustees of the Edward Carpenter Foundation, a private foundation established with alumni gifts at a time when Dartmouth did not choose to accept donations for gay and lesbian causes. In 1992, he taught the English department's first course in gay literature.

"He was a tremendous pioneer for gay and lesbian students at Dartmouth at a time when it was not typical," says Colin Partridge '72, a former student who became Saccio's lifelong friend.

Associate Professor of English Melissa Zeiger recalls Saccio's kindness as a colleague, and how he championed gay authors with sensitivity and care. "In the midst of sad times, including the AIDS epidemic, he was able to celebrate the joyousness of gay literary production," she says.

"The way our culture has been run for 1,000 years, if you're gay you're alone," Saccio said in an interview with Dartmouth Alumni Magazine. "Some people start out thinking they're the only people in the world like this."

"Literature does illuminate life," he continued. "It can extend our experience beyond the range of one person."

Saccio's late partner, James Steffensen, was a professor of drama at Dartmouth beginning in 1980. The pair often collaborated professionally, including in the leading of students and alumni to London for theater-focused study and tours, often in association with the Hopkins Center for the Arts. With Steffensen and after his death, Saccio regularly kept in touch with many former Dartmouth students, often serving as a patient listener and trusted advisor both professionally and personally.

When Vermont's Northern Stage was founded in 1997, Saccio quickly befriended its founding director and became an ardent supporter. When Peter Hackett and his wife, Carol Dunne, joined Dartmouth's theater faculty, Saccio introduced them to the company—ultimately leading to Dunne taking its helm as artistic director in 2013. In addition to serving as an artistic advisor and acting in several productions, Saccio was on Northern Stage's Board of Directors for several years and remained connected long after he stepped down.

Saccio's own acting credits include the Shakespearean roles of Casca, Angelo, and Bassanio, as well as various parts in ancient and modern plays. And it was at Dartmouth, finally, when he played the role of the king in a production of Henry IV in the Moore Theater.

Saccio is survived by his sister, Mary Anne Gateley of Searcy, Ark.; his brother and sister-in-law Edward and Joyce Saccio of Havana, Florida; four nieces and nephews, four great-nieces, and a great-nephew.

A memorial service will take place on Thursday, Sept. 12, at 11 a.m. at St. Thomas Church in Hanover.

Donations in Saccio's memory may be made to St. Thomas' Church, Northern Stage, a gay/AIDS charity or support group of the donor's choice, or to the Professor James L. Steffensen Memorial Fund at Dartmouth, which Saccio established to further Steffensen's work in the education of theater students.

In Saccio's honor, the Dartmouth flag will be lowered on Thursday, Sept. 12, and Friday, Sept. 13.