As mentioned in yesterday’s post, Thomas G. Moses led a group of artists to create scenery for a “domestic comedy drama” – “A Flag of Truce.” His team included men who would later become well-known fine artists – Harry A. Vincent, A. J. Rupert, and Frank Peyraud. In addition to these three, there were a number of scenic assistants and young paint boys who worked on the project. The production of scenery for “A Flag of Truce” was completed during December 1892. The show immediately toured the country and ended up at the Fourteenth Street Theatre in New York. Located at 107 West 14th Street, this venue was previously known as Haverly’s Theatre.
The original script for the production is available at the University of Chicago’s Charles Morton Agency Collection of American Popular Drama 1842-1950 (box 35, folder 2). William Haworth (1860-1920) was the younger brother to the actor Joe Haworth. Money earned from Joe’s success on the stage enabled William to complete school and attend Annapolis as a naval cadet. However, a life on the stage also appealed to the younger Haworth. In 1882, John McCullough provided William with his first professional opportunity to perform on the stage. Four years later, William was acting at the Union Square theatre. By this point, he had the support of Helena Modjeska.
William soon tried his hand as a playwright and penned the play, “Ferncliff.” Set in Providence, Rhode Island during the Civil War, it opened at the Union Square Theatre in 1889.
While “Ferncliff” was playing at the Union Square, his brother Joseph was performing in Steel MacKaye’s “Paul Kauvar” at the Grand Opera House. This was also at the same time twhen Bronson Howard’s “Shenandoah” was a very popular production. However, it was unlike “Shenandoah” as it lacked the spectacular reenactments of battles. “Ferncliff” was more of a domestic drama with comic elements instead of grand battle scenes. Haworth wrote another play a few years later, “The Ensign.” Again, the setting was during the Civil War with two acts transpiring in Cuba. Interestingly, in this production Abraham Lincoln makes a cameo appearance.
“The Ensign” plot set was set in Havana and involved the ploy of two British officers provoking Capt. Charles Wilkes into a quarrel to delay his interception of the “Trent.” Based partially on factual events from 1861, Capt. Wilkes seized two Confederate emissaries to the British government on the vessel “Trent” while on the sea. The incident nearly caused Britain to declare war on the North. In the play, Wilkes eventually escapes the firing squad by the personal intervention of President Lincoln. The production was reported to be an exceptional spectacle. “The Ensign” opened during September 1892 and William’s naval background from studies at Annapolis provided a realistic depiction of military life. The producer Jacob Litt even hired six men who had served on Charles Wilkes’ frigate. Although, Haworth did not act in this production, it skyrocketed him to fame.
Haworth soon reworked “Ferncliff” to became a companion piece to “The Ensign” and a new production was formed “A Flag of Truce.” Moses toured with this production as it appeared in the initial venues. It now included a thrilling rescue in a quarry that involved a real derrick onstage. Moses wrote, “I did a stone quarry set – a very effective scene.” The scene as listed in some playbills notes that the act included “quarrymen, blasters, stone cutters, etc.” The program description from the Fourteenth Street Theatre in New York stated, “The Giant Steam Drills used in “A Flag of Truce” are from the celebrated Rand Rock Drill Co., 23 Park Place, New York.”
I want to pause here and comment on the shared material culture between the Fraternity and commercial theatre. In the Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite, there is also a quarry scene. In this setting, the two of the assassins of the chief architect (Hiram) of King Solomon’s Temple are concealed as quarry workers. They are apprehended amongst the derricks that lifted the massive stones from the pit of a quarry.
Moses traveled with “A Flag of Truce” to Plainfield, New Jersey, where the production opened at the end of December. He wrote, “I arrived there after 12:00 o’clock A.M. Went to a hotel near the depot – door was open. I waited for some time and no one showed up, so I rang the bell for a porter. The office was dimly lighted. I was knocked out when I saw something rise from the back of the desk – it was a Negro porter wrapped in a sheet lying on a cot. No room – had to go some distance to another hotel, where I had a fine room. The show was a hit. Second night in Trenton, then home again.”
To be continued…
