Our American Cousin is a play in three acts by Tom Taylor. Tom Taylor ( 19 October 1817 &ndash 12 July 1880) was a dramatist critic biographer public servant and editor of Punch magazine The play is a farcical comedy whose plot is based on the introduction of an awkward, boorish American to his aristocratic English relatives. A farce is a Comedy written for the stage or film which aims to Entertain the audience by means of unlikely extravagant and improbable situations disguise and mistaken It premiered at Laura Keene's Theatre in New York City on October 15, 1858. Laura Keene (1826 &ndash November 4, 1873) was an Anglo-American actress and manager whose real name was Mary Frances Moss. The City of New York Events 533 - Byzantine General Belisarius makes his formal entry into Carthage, having conquered it from the Year 1858 ( MDCCCLVIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common

The play's most famous performance came seven years later, however, at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. on April 14, 1865. Ford's Theatre is a historic Theatre in Washington DC, used for various Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D Events 43 BC - Battle of Forum Gallorum: Mark Antony, besieging Julius Caesar 's assassin Decimus Junius Brutus in Year 1865 ( MDCCCLXV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Halfway through Act III, Scene 2, the character Asa Trenchard (the title role), played that night by Harry Hawk, utters a line that while considered one of the play's funniest, makes little sense out of context:

"Don't know the manners of good society, eh? Well, I guess I know enough to turn you inside out, old gal—you sockdologizing old man-trap. . . "

During the raucous laughter that followed this line, John Wilkes Booth, an actor who received his mail at Ford's Theatre but who was not in the cast of Our American Cousin, shot President Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln assassination John Wilkes Booth (May 10 1838 – April 26 1865 was an American stage actor who assassinated Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, one of the last major events in the American Civil War, took place on Good Friday, April 14, 1865, when Abraham Lincoln (February 12 1809 &ndash April 15 1865 the sixteenth President of the United States, successfully led his country through its greatest internal He chose the timing in hopes that the sound of the laughter would mask the sound of his gunshot. He then leapt from Lincoln's box to the stage, and ran outside to his awaiting horse. As he leapt, Booth shouted "Sic semper tyrannis!" — the state motto of Virginia. Sic semper tyrannis is a Latin phrase meaning "thus ever (or always to tyrants Others in the audience heard it as: "The South is avenged!"

Edward Sothern as Lord Dundreary, sporting "Dundrearies"

Before its history was changed by Lincoln's assassination, the play had already made a cultural impact. The character Lord Dundreary, a dimwitted aristocrat, became popular for the absurd riddles he propounded. Lord Dundreary is a character of the 1858 British play Our American Cousin by Tom Taylor. "Dundrearyisms," twisted aphorisms in the style of Lord Dundreary (e. A Dundrearyism is an Aphorism, Proverb, colloquial phrase or Riddle humorously combined with another in such a way to render it nonsensical g. "birds of a feather gather no moss"), also enjoyed a brief vogue. The scene in which Dundreary read a letter from his even stupider brother became especially famous. The actor Edward Askew Sothern, who created the Dundreary role, expanded the scene considerably in performance. Edward Askew Sothern ( 1 April 1826 &ndash 21 January 1881) English Actor known for his comic roles particularly A number of spin-off works were also created, including a play about the brother. The same character's style of beard — long, bushy sideburns — gave the English language the word "dundrearies. "

External links

• Our American Cousin, available at Project Gutenberg. Project Gutenberg, abbreviated as PG, is a volunteer effort to Digitize, archive and distribute Cultural works
• Abraham Lincoln's Assassination
• The Life and Plot of John Wilkes Booth