The America Play tells the story of an Abraham Lincoln impersonator, known as the Foundling Father, reenacting the night Lincoln was assassinated. Customers come and pay as little as they want to act like John Wilkes Booth or anybody else the customer chooses to portray, and pretend to assassinate the Lincoln impersonator. The Foundling Father was fascinated by Abraham Lincoln, saying Lincoln was his "favorite", even referring to Lincoln as "the Great Man". He was especially interested in the last days of Lincoln’s life, particularly his last show, deeds, and even his last laughs (180). The Foundling Father is only concerned with these specific moments in Lincoln’s life because he wants to perfect them for his impersonation act. Before the Foundling Father became this established impersonator, he was a gravedigger, and he is so ashamed of that being his past that he refers to his old self as "the Lesser Known", which speaks to his embarrassment of being someone so simple and ordinary. and that he so desperately wanted to be someone other than himself, someone great.
