"James A. Herne in his Great Play" upper left, title and director upper right. Scene from play with Martin and Nathaniel Berry conversing in farm yard with sleeping girl in background. At bottom a line from the play, "Then who's got so good a right to it as mother has?" There is a large tear at lower left.
Herne ("the American Ibsen") wrote this very un-Ibsenesque play in 1892. It was a hit and Herne sometimes performed at the Harlem Opera House as Nathaniel Berry in his long-running play. The work is exemplary of early American realism with characteristic elements of verisimilitude regarding regional speech patterns, discussion of topical ideas (Darwin) and a sentimental resolution. The play ran for over 100 performances in Boston before moving up to New York, and the poster likely refers to the 1893 production in the latter venue.