Joseph
Haworth first appeared at the Union
Square Theatre on April 13, 1884. The
play was The Fatal Letter by A.
R. Cazauran, a writer widely known for
his work adapting French dramas for
the American stage. The plot involved
a wife’s discovery that her husband
had betrayed the Confederate
government to Union soldiers, causing
the death of her father and brother.
The play’s conflict was between the
wife and husband over custody of their
only child. The April 15, 1884 New
York Times called Joe’s performance
as the husband "well
sustained." The play itself was
judged over-long, although it drew
large and enthusiastic houses
throughout its run. Joe rehearsed The
Fatal Letter while performing with
John McCullough in The Gladiator,
Richard III, Virginius, Othello,
and Ingomar at the Novelty
Theatre in Brooklyn. The Fatal
Letter was the first time New York
audiences saw Joseph Haworth in
intimate drawing room drama, a
departure from the classical and
"toga" productions of
McCullough.
Haworth
was back at the Union Square in
September 1885 in A Moral Crime by
Elwyn Barron, a dramatic critic of
Chicago. It was a melodramatic story
of a young waif, Mathilde, who was
first rescued and then betrayed by a
corrupt abbot. In an effort to spare
another young girl a similar fate,
Mathilde shoots and kills the
religious hypocrite. Joe played
Philippe Count d’Albert a friend of
the abbot, who uncovers the crime,
learns its true nature, and falls
intensively in love with Mathilde.
Their love scene was remarkable for
its powerful effect on audiences, and
Joe moved to the forefront of matinee
idol heartthrobs on the New York
stage. A Moral Crime was
originally booked for a two-week
engagement at the Union Square, but
wound up playing through the end of
the year. Julia Marlowe summarized her
opinion of Joe’s work in this play
by writing: "…Mr. Haworth’s
performance exhibited the very highest
qualities of a romantic actor."
In
November 1886, Joe’s younger brother
William Haworth acted at the Union
Square Theatre in support of Helene
Modjeska. Joseph Haworth had played
Orlando in As You Like It
opposite Mme. Modjeska the previous
February and introduced his aspiring
brother to the great star. The
Modjeska repertory again included As
You Like It, this time with
Maurice Barrymore as Orlando. Cast as
Oliver, Orlando’s abusive older
brother, William Haworth grappled
physically each performance with
Barrymore, a former Marquis of
Queensbury champion boxer. Modjeska
was pleased with William Haworth’s
work, and she cast him as Pille Miche
in Balzac’s The Chouans. The
heavily plotted novel did not adapt
easily to the stage, but the
production did good business and had
some who ardently admired its dramatic
plot of mystery, fighting, spies,
danger, and melodrama. This engagement
gave William Haworth important
exposure in New York, and led directly
to his assuming the lead in William
Gillette’s Held by the Enemy
when its New York production went on
tour in 1887.
William
Haworth left New York and two years of
touring later, returned with a
completed play. Ferncliff was a
modest New England domestic
comedy-drama set against the backdrop
of the Civil War. It had a cast of ten
characters, simple production values,
and was an addition to the recent
canon of plays by American authors
with homegrown stories and themes. In
September 1889, Bronson Howard’s Shenandoah
opened in New York the same week as Ferncliff.
While Shenandoah told the
romantic side of the South during the
Civil War, Ferncliff told of
the impact of the War on the northern
folks back home. Shenandoah
featured spectacular re-enactments of
battles, while Ferncliff told
its gentle, tragic story without any
violence. The public response to Ferncliff
was overwhelming. On opening night,
the third act curtain fell with cries
of "author, author," and
William Haworth who was also acting in
the piece, modestly stood before the
curtain and bowed along with leading
man E. H. Vanderfelt to an audience
that included General Sherman. The New
York News called Ferncliff "a
soul stirring, pulse throbbing,
beautiful story."
