Our American Cousin

About “Our American Cousin”

Our American Cousin is a three-act play written by English playwright Tom Taylor. It premiered in London in 1858 and later debuted in New York City the same year. The play remained popular in the United States and England for several decades. It is most famous for being the play President Abraham Lincoln was watching on April 14, 1865, when he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. The play is a Victorian farce featuring stereotyped characters and comedic situations. Its plot follows an honest but boorish American cousin who travels to England to claim his inheritance and becomes involved in the family’s affairs. A rescue of the family’s fortunes and the damsels in distress follows. Originally written as a farce for an English audience, the play was later recast as a comedy in the United States. In this version, English caricatures like the pompous Lord Dundreary became the primary source of humor. A 1869 edition of the play contained fewer of Lord Dundreary’s nonsensical sayings, which later became known as “Dundrearyisms” and contributed to the play’s popularity.