Carlow University Theatre Will Present “Our American Cousin,” the play Abraham Lincoln was attending when he was shot by an assassin, in April.
| University Communications | For Immediate Release |
| Drew Wilson, Director, Media Relations | November 19, 2014 |
| 412.578.2095 (phone) | |
| 412.260.6807 (cell) | |
| 412.578.2080 (fax) | |
| agwilson@carlow.edu |
150th .Anniversary of President Lincoln’s Assassination Recalled with Performance of Tom Tyler’s Play
Pittsburgh, Pa. –To commemorate one of the most tragic moments in United States history, CarlowUniversity Theatre will present “OurAmerican Cousin,” the play Abraham Lincoln was attending on April 14, 1865, when he was shot by an assassin.
The first of six performances of the play by CarlowUniversity Theatre will be on the 150th anniversary of that infamous night at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, DC. The show will be presented April 14 through April 19, 2015, in the Rosemary Heyl Theatre in Antonian Hall on the Carlow campus. Times of the performances will be announced at a later date.
“Our American Cousin is a comedy written by Tom Tyler, and it is performed in the melodramatic style that was popular in the mid-19th century,” said Steve Fatla, Carlow University Theatre’s managing director, as well as the director of the performances at Carlow.
Carlow’s performances of the play will be done in conjunction with the Ninth Pennsylvania Reserves re-enactors, and will include a Civil War encampment, historical artifacts, and informative displays on the play, its actors, Ford’s Theatre, the Civil War in Pittsburgh, and the Sisters of Mercy’s important role in nursing wounded soldiers. There will even be an Abraham Lincoln impersonator.
“An interesting, but often overlooked, footnote in Pittsburgh’s history is that Carlow University’s campus was the site of a CivilWar encampment known as Fort Zug,” said Fatla.
Fort Zug was a posting of soldiers on high ground overlooking the river watching for any signs of a Confederate invasion during the weeks and months surrounding the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. Fort Zug predates both the arrival of the Sisters of Mercy in Oakland and Carlow University. As near as can be determined, the name “Zug”is the surname of the person who owned the land that became the Carlow campus.
More detailed information will be released as the performance date gets closer.
### About Carlow University
Located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Carlow University was founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1929. Offering both undergraduate and graduate programs, Carlow University is a comprehensive master’s institution dedicated to learner-centered education at the collegiate levels and at the elementary school level in the CampusSchool of Carlow University.