Joseph Jefferson (1829-1905) was a beloved nineteenth century comedic actor best known for his role of Rip Van Winkle, which he played for over forty years. Born on February 20, 1829, into a theatrical family, Jefferson had a talent for performing and started his stage career early. Over his career, he became known for achieving a realistic style of acting which was rarely seen from his contemporaries. Before Stanislavski and Chekhov employed the technique in Europe, Jefferson turned his back to the audience while having a conversation with his wife in Rip Van Winkle and, according to critics, was able to convey to audiences what Rip was thinking purely through his movements. Another innovation in the way Jefferson performed the role of Rip was in that of the delivery of punch lines of jokes: The obvious way to play such a punch line was to look at the spectators as if letting them in on the joke, but Jefferson never played it that way. By delivering the line as an internal aside or verbalized subtext, he allowed his audience to get the joke themselves (Bloom 121). By 1870, two-thirds of Jefferson's performances were that of Rip Van Winkle, however vast the rest of his repertoire was. The Rivals, a comedy by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, was Jefferson's second most popular offering, in which he played bumbling countryman Bob Acres. This program is from a production of The Rivals in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on October 31st, 1881. Mrs. John Drew (Louisa) played the role of Mrs. Malaprop, a role which she would later reprise in Jefferson's revival of The Rivals in an all-star cast production in 1896. The program also features advertising for hairdressers, alcohol, trunks, buggies, and gas fixtures, among others, and includes a story from the London Telegraph about the dioscope, a revolutionary way to watch a live theatre performance from the comfort of one's own home by using a telephone and pre-television era optic screen! Production(s) represented: Captain Brassbound's Conversion. Character role(s) represented: Ellen Terry (Lady Cecily Waynflete) Artistic role(s) represented: Dame Ellen Terry (Actor).