# Has "Our American Cousin" Been Publicly Performed Since Lincoln's Assassination? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 22, 2003, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-our-american-cousin-been-publicly-performed-since-lincolns-assassination/176914 "2003-05-22T22:42:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-our-american-cousin-been-publicly-performed-since-lincolns-assassination/176914/1 "2003-05-22T22:42:00Z")
As every American learns by Junior High school, Abraham Lincoln was shot and killed at the Ford Theater in Washington while watching a performance of _Our American Cousin_, a comedy. What I **don’t** know is whether or not _Our American Cousin_ is actually funny, or even if it’s been performed since that fateful night in 1865. Anyone know the scoop? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-our-american-cousin-been-publicly-performed-since-lincolns-assassination/176914/2 "2003-05-22T22:46:52Z")
[19th-century plays still performed](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=175340&highlight=american+cousin+lincoln) ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-our-american-cousin-been-publicly-performed-since-lincolns-assassination/176914/3 "2003-05-22T22:54:00Z")
Oxford University Press published an edition of _Our American Cousin_ in 1996, in a volume that includes other 19th-century stage hits _The Corsican Brothers_ and _Trilby_. Beacham Publishing came out with an edition in 1990. ---
**Author:** ![Danalan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@Danalan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danalan)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-our-american-cousin-been-publicly-performed-since-lincolns-assassination/176914/4 "2003-05-22T23:02:10Z")
I performed in the play, in High School. It was a slightly modified version, opening with a ‘Night Watchman’ who was ‘guiding’ the audience on a tour of the Ford Theatre. At the moment in the play when Lincoln was shot, a shot rang out, the actors froze in place, and the night watchman explained the circumstances of Lincolns death. It’s actually not a bad play – it’s a comedy, and we didn’t have to change anything for people to get the humor. Of course, the whole gunshot and history lesson was kind of a downer. I played the Night Watchman, and provided my own pistol. It was a real pistol – a 9-shot .22 caliber revolver. The school provided the blanks. Can’t imagine that being allowed anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-our-american-cousin-been-publicly-performed-since-lincolns-assassination/176914/5 "2003-05-22T23:03:20Z")
Or you can read _Our American Cousin_ [on-line](http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/gutbook/lookup?num=3158) at Project Gutenberg. Lincoln was shot at the point in Act III when the character Asa says, “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.” ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-our-american-cousin-been-publicly-performed-since-lincolns-assassination/176914/6 "2003-05-22T23:19:18Z")
Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play? ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-our-american-cousin-been-publicly-performed-since-lincolns-assassination/176914/7 "2003-05-22T23:42:10Z")
“Sockdologizing” is an interesting word. No origin listed, M-W says it is only circa 1830, used for a punchline in late 1800’s, and completely dead now. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-our-american-cousin-been-publicly-performed-since-lincolns-assassination/176914/8 "2003-05-23T01:20:45Z")
An earlier thread on the word: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=64566](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=64566) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-our-american-cousin-been-publicly-performed-since-lincolns-assassination/176914/9 "2003-05-23T01:49:53Z")
IIRC, they’ve even performed it at Ford’s Theater in Washington. No casualties in that run. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-our-american-cousin-been-publicly-performed-since-lincolns-assassination/176914/10 "2003-05-23T02:17:30Z")
Glad to see it got a fair shake. 😛 Did the President happen to attend a performance of the revival? ---
**Author:** ![dogchow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e495f1/32.png) [@dogchow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogchow)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-our-american-cousin-been-publicly-performed-since-lincolns-assassination/176914/11 "2003-05-23T04:55:51Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by BrainGlutton \* \*\*Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play? \*\*[/QUOTE I was wondering that myself:D ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-our-american-cousin-been-publicly-performed-since-lincolns-assassination/176914/12 "2003-05-23T13:12:53Z")
Regarding FORD’s Theatre…I heard some time ago that it was haunted! I also believe that the theatre was due to be torn down in the 1920’s (it was abandoned for years); but then the Nat. Park Servicebought it and restored it. Anyway, has anyopne seen anything strange at this place? If old Abe were to haunt any place, it surely would be this place! ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-our-american-cousin-been-publicly-performed-since-lincolns-assassination/176914/13 "2003-05-23T16:04:16Z")
Every once in a blue moon, I’ll see a article about a performance of “Our American Cousin.” However, I suspect that it would almost NEVER be performed if it didn’t have that Lincoln connection. Think about it- how often do you see ANY comic play from the mid 19th century performed? Hardly ever, I’d wager. In a perverse way, an otherwise forgettable (though mildly amusing) play was immortalized by the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-our-american-cousin-been-publicly-performed-since-lincolns-assassination/176914/14 "2003-05-23T16:18:01Z")
I’ve seen a performance of one of my favorite plays, “She Stoops To Conquer” at Ford’s Theater. I didn’t notice anything strange going on. But I have a friend who is a Lincoln assassination buff who was totally spooked when he visited Ford’s – probably the work of an overactive imagination. He told me a story about it – I think it involved hearing the curtains on the box rustling, or feeling like someone was watching him. ---
**Author:** ![Encinitas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Encinitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Encinitas)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-our-american-cousin-been-publicly-performed-since-lincolns-assassination/176914/15 "2003-05-23T16:41:53Z")
Here’s the [National Park Service’s Ford’s Theater](http://www.nps.gov/foth/index.htm) website. Now playing: _1776, A Musical_. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-our-american-cousin-been-publicly-performed-since-lincolns-assassination/176914/16 "2003-05-24T22:30:52Z")
Actually, I would think Lincoln would be haunting the house across the street, if anywhere, just because that’s where he died. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-our-american-cousin-been-publicly-performed-since-lincolns-assassination/176914/17 "2003-05-24T22:43:24Z")
I’ve performed in a couple of 19th-century plays, including the bicentennial revival of Dion Boucicault’s _Forbidden Fruit_ (1876). I think there’s a theater in Colorado that performs old melodramas. Maybe I should hightail it out there and become a character actress–I’d be a great Aunt Ophelia in _Uncle Tom’s Cabin_. “Now, Topsy, do you know where you came from?” ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-our-american-cousin-been-publicly-performed-since-lincolns-assassination/176914/18 "2003-05-24T22:47:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by HPL \* > \*\*Actually, I would think Lincoln would be haunting the house across the street, if anywhere, just because that’s where he died. \*\* Hey, even dead people like to take in a show sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-our-american-cousin-been-publicly-performed-since-lincolns-assassination/176914/19 "2003-05-24T23:09:43Z")
Does the fragment shown in the recent remake of _Bedazzled_ count? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-our-american-cousin-been-publicly-performed-since-lincolns-assassination/176914/20 "2003-05-26T21:34:08Z")
Even some plays of more recent vintage are hardly ever performed, for example, “The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here, Anymore” by Tennessee Williams. Despite the fact that it was made into an all-star motion picture with an all-star cast–and being one of the classic movies of the past four decades, it is just not to be seen. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-our-american-cousin-been-publicly-performed-since-lincolns-assassination/176914.md?page=2)