Our American Cousin

March 20 & 21, 2024

The last play President Lincoln ever attended. Our American Cousin is a farcical comedy whose plot is based on the introduction of an awkward, boorish American to his aristocratic English relatives. Asa Trenchard has come to Trenchard Manor to stake claim to land which has been bequeathed to him by Squire Mark Trenchard…until he meets the lovely Mary Meredith (Mark Trenchard’s granddaughter), and he makes a big decision that affects his life and hers. Many other “quirky” characters come into play during his visit.  Although the 1858 play achieved great renown during its first few years and remained very popular throughout the second half of the 19th century, Our American Cousin is best remembered as the play Abraham Lincoln was attending at Ford’s Theatre when he was assassinated by actor and Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865

By Tom Taylor