Our American Cousin

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Joseph Jefferson as Asa Trenchard, the titular American Cousin, in the original cast.

Our American Cousin is a three-act farce, first performed at Laura Keene's Theatre in New York City in 1858.

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The play is in the Public Domain, and a copy of the 1869 version can be downloaded from Project Gutenberg.

The 2008 opera of the same name recounts the events of the play's most famous performance, from the viewpoint of the cast. If you're looking for the unrelated 1985 movie, see My American Cousin.

Tropes used in Our American Cousin include:

• Fish Out of Water: Vermont native Asa Trenchard tries to fit in at Trenchard Manor, which is very British.
• Malaproper: Lord Dundreary, to the point that malapropisms were popularly called Dundrearyisms while the play was popular.
• Perfectly Cromulent Word: "sockdologizing", which (judging by reported Audience Reactions) was the funniest word in the play when it was performed during the 1860s. Alas, the context of its use doesn't provide any context for its meaning, other than that is isn't complimentary.
• Values Dissonance: According to David McKenzie in 2021, "its class-based humor poking fun at country bumpkins and British aristocracy simply doesn’t land nor carry the attention of modern audiences."

{{reflist}} [[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]] [[Category:Theatrical Productions]] [[Category:Theatre of the 19th century]] [[Category:Farce]]

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Trivia subpage

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Trivia about Our American Cousin includes:

• Edward Askew Sothern was reluctant to take the role of Lord Dundreary in the original cast, because he felt that the part was too small. When he mentioned this to Joseph Jefferson (who had already been cast in the titular role), Jefferson is said to have replied with, "There are no small parts, only small actors." This was three decades before Konstantin Stanislavski popularized the phrase while directing at the Moscow Art Theatre.
• Abraham Lincoln was assassinated while watching a performance of this play on Good Friday, April 14, 1865.

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