by John O’Keeffe

Straight-up Fun. 

Blackfriars Premiere. Thirteen years after we signed our Declaration of Independence from Mother England, John O’Keeffe unleashed his rollicking romantic comedy Wild Oats on the world; and when we were celebrating our bicentennial in 1976, the Royal Shakespeare Company rediscovered O’Keeffe’s comic jewel. Filled with mistaken identity, romantic intrigue, Shakespearean innuendo, and Restoration rakish wit, Wild Oats follows a privileged young man who runs away from school to join a band of traveling actors. Lead actor Rover, by quoting lines from last fall’s gleeful The Rehearsal, sets into motion a string of confusions that take us on a ride through the Quaker countryside with hypocrites to be unmasked, villains to be exposed, reunions, redemptions, and love triumphant. Don’t miss this unforgettable romp.