Drifting apart

   One of James A. Herne's earliest plays, and one of his first to exhibit his interest in European realism in the Henrik Ibsen mode, Drifting Apart, which was originally named Mary, The Fisherman's Child, was first produced at Boston's Park Theatre on 11 June 1888. Although the drama's depiction of heredity and environment on an alcoholic sailor failed to find favor with audiences, Herne's achievement was recognized by several important critics, including Hamlin Garland and William Dean Howells, whose praise encouraged him to continue in the realistic social problem drama style that would reap his finest play, Margaret Fleming.