''Wild Oats'' is a

comedy play Comedy is a genre of dramatic performance having a light or humorous tone that depicts amusing incidents and in which the characters ultimately triumph over adversity. For ancient Greeks and Romans, a comedy was a stage-play with a happy endi ...

by the Irish writer John O'Keeffe which premiered at the

Theatre Royal, Covent Garden The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

in 1791. O'Keefe's eyesight deteriorated so the play would have been dictated to his daughter Adelaide O'Keeffe. The original Covent Garden cast included John Quick as Sir George Thunder,

William Thomas Lewis William Thomas Lewis (c.1748–1811), known as "Gentleman" Lewis, due to his refined acting style, was an English actor. Raised in Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, he made his name on the Dublin stage before moving to the Theatre Royal, Covent Gard ...

as Rover, Joseph George Holman as Harry, Richard Wilson as John Dory, Thomas Hull as Banks,

William Cubitt Sir William Cubitt FRS (bapt. 9 October 1785 – 13 October 1861) was an English civil engineer and millwright. Born in Norfolk, England, he was employed in many of the great engineering undertakings of his time. He invented a type of windmil ...

as Gammon,

Joseph Shepherd Munden Joseph Shepherd Munden (1758 – 6 February 1832) was an English actor. He had a long provincial experience as actor and manager. His first London appearance was in 1790 at Covent Garden, where he mostly remained until 1811, becoming a leadi ...

as Ephraim Smooth, William Blanchard as Sim, James Thompson as Sailor, Charles Farley as Sailor,

William Macready William Charles Macready (3 March 179327 April 1873) was an English stage actor. The son of Irish actor-manager William Macready the Elder he emerged as a leading West End performer during the Regency era. Career Macready was born in London ...

as Midg,

Jane Pope Jane Pope (1744 – 30 July 1818) was an English actress. Life Pope was the daughter William and Susanna Pope. Her father was a London theatrical wig-maker for the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. (There has been confusion over her date of birth wi ...

as Lady Amaranth and

Mary Wells Mary Esther Wells (May 13, 1943 – July 26, 1992) was an American singer, who helped to define the emerging sound of Motown in the early 1960s. Along with the Supremes, the Miracles, the Temptations, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, and the F ...

as Jane. The Irish premiere took place at the

Crow Street Theatre Crow Street Theatre was a theatre in Dublin, Ireland, originally opened in 1758 by the actor Spranger Barry. From 1788 until 1818 it was a patent theatre. History Spranger Barry and Henry Woodward The actor Spranger Barry (1719–1777), born ...

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

on 5 December 1791.

Plot

The naval captain Sir George Thunder and his valet and bosun John Dory arrive at an unknown country house on their hunt for deserters. They soon discover that it is the home of Thunder's niece Lady Amaranth, who has been left a legacy on the condition that she live as a Quaker – with another Quaker, Ephraim Smooth, on hand to make sure she sticks to this. Hearing his son Harry has left the naval academy at Portsmouth, he sends John to bring him back to woo Amaranth. Harry has been playing truant with a travelling theatre troupe, where he has made friends with another actor called Jack Rover. However, he decides to leave the troupe and return to the academy. Rover arrives near Amaranth's house in a storm and seeks shelter with the miserly Farmer Gammon. Gammon refuses and instead he takes shelter with his neighbour Banks and his sister Amelia. Gammon is trying to impoverish Banks to encourage Amelia to marry him and the following morning Rover pays off a debt Banks owes Gammon. Rover then sets off for the London coach, but realising he has no money left, instead takes employment with a new troupe. He then meets Dory, who mistakes him for Harry, then meets Amaranth, with the two falling in love. He and the troupe then end up performing at Amaranth's house, with Amaranth playing Rosalind to Rover's Orlando in ''

As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wil ...

''. Sir George Thunder hears that 'Harry' (actually Rover) is already wooing Amaranth as hoped. He then meets with the real Harry, who is non-plussed and goes to meet Rover. They keep up the deception, even when Thunder arrives. Thunder then continues his pursuit of the deserters and is saved from them by Rover, who also ends up defending Amelia from Gammon's bailiffs. Amelia then goes to Amaranth to explain how she and Banks became poor – years ago, a young naval officer tried to trick her into a sham marriage. However, her brother Banks was then a naval chaplain and performed the ceremony, making it valid. She had a child but the officer then left her – she ended up travelling to the East Indies and then back to England. Ephraim is angered at the play being put on, but tries to use it as a cover to woo Amaranth's new handmaid, Gammon's daughter Jane. Overhearing this, Amaranth denounces Ephraim's hypocrisy, renounces her Quakerism and reveals her love for 'Harry'. Rover reveals his true identity and it is revealed that George was the naval officer and Rover their son. However, this invalidates George's second marriage and makes Harry illegitimate, but Rover makes over the Thunder family estate to Harry, asserting that Amaranath and her fortune are enough for him.

Production history

It was revived successfully by the Royal Shakespeare Company in London in autumn 1976, with

Alan Howard Alan Howard may refer to: * Alan Howard (actor) (1937–2015), English actor * Alan Howard (cricketer) (1909–1993), English cricketer * Alan Howard (engineer) (1905–1966), American engineer * Alan Howard (hedge fund manager) (born 1963), hed ...

as Rover and a cast that also included

Ben Cross Harry Bernard Cross (16 December 1947 – 18 August 2020) was an English actor. He was best known for his portrayal of the British Olympic athlete Harold Abrahams in the 1981 film ''Chariots of Fire'' and for playing Billy Flynn in the or ...

Joe Melia Giovanni Philip William "Joe" Melia (23 January 1935, Camden, London – 20 October 2012, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire) was a British actor. Educated at the City of Leicester Boys' Grammar School and Downing College, Cambridge Downing ...

Zoë Wanamaker Zoë Wanamaker (born 13 May 1949) is an American-born British actress who has worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. Wanamaker was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2001 by Qu ...

and

Jeremy Irons Jeremy John Irons (; born 19 September 1948) is an English actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he has received numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a Tony Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards, ...

. This production led to many revivals at regional theatres across the UK, the US, and Canada. The Royal National revived it again in 1995 and had Alan Cox as Harry,

Anton Lesser Anton Lesser (born 14 February 1952) is a British actor. He is known for his roles as Qyburn in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'', Harold Macmillan in ''The Crown'', Clement Attlee in '' A United Kingdom'', Chief Superintendent Bright in '' E ...

as Rover,

Benjamin Whitrow Benjamin John Whitrow (17 February 1937 – 28 September 2017) was a British actor. He was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor for his role as Mr Bennet in the 1995 BBC version of ''Pride and Prejudice'', and voiced the role of Fowle ...

as Ephraim,

Sarah Woodward Sarah Woodward (born 3 April 1963) is a British actress who won an Olivier Award in 1998 for ''Tom & Clem'' and was Tony nominated in 2000 for '' The Real Thing''. Sarah is the daughter of actor Edward Woodward and his first wife, actress Ven ...

as Amaranth and

James Bolam James Christopher Bolam (born 16 June 1935) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Terry Collier in '' The Likely Lads'' and its sequel ''Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'', Jack Ford in ''When the Boat Comes In'', Roy Fig ...

as George. In October 2012 it was the first main-house production at

Bristol Old Vic Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a fin ...

after its restoration, re-set in the 1940s and with a cast including Sam Alexander, Kim Wall, Jo Herbert,

Hugh Skinner Hugh William Skinner (born 6 January 1985) is an English actor. He is best known for starring in sitcoms '' W1A'' (2014–2017) and ''The Windsors'' (2016–present), and his appearances in musical films ''Les Misérables'' (2012) and ''Mamma M ...

and Isaac Stanmore.

References

Bibliography

* Greene, John C. ''Theatre in Dublin, 1745-1820: A Calendar of Performances, Volume 6''. Lexington Books, 2011.

External links

*
Online text of ''Wild Oats''
{{John O'Keeffe 1791 plays Plays by John O'Keeffe Plays set in the 18th century British plays West End plays Plays set in England