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Wild Oats
by
John O'Keeffe
An
RSC production
Opened at the Aldwych Theatre, London on 14th December
1976. Transferred to the Piccadilly Theatre,
London in April 1977. Opened at the Theatre Royal,
Newcastle on 20th February 1979.
Director: Clifford Williams
Designer: Ralph Koltai
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Cast
(in
alphabetical order) |
Tim Barlow.....Twitch
John Bott.....Banks
Bille Brown.....Waiter; First Ruffian
Doyne Byrd.....Midge (Muz); Third Ruffian
James Cormack.....Waiter
Ben Cross.....Second Ruffian
Joe Dunlop.....Trap
Patrick Godfrey.....Ephraim Smooth, Lady Amaranth's steward
Lisa Harrow; later Sinead Cusack.....Lady Amaranth, a Quaker
Alan Howard.....Rover
Jeremy Irons.....Harry Thunder
Simon Jones.....Zachariah
Raymond Marlowe.....Landlord
Joe Melia.....John Dory
Norman Rodway.....Sir George Thunder
Diana Rowan.....Maid
Richard Simpson.....Lamp
Zoë Wanamaker.....Jane
Raymond Westwell.....Farmer Gammon
Emma Williams.....Maid
Tim Wylton.....Sim |
Production |
| 'The
story [Wild Oats] tells is of dazzling ingenuity [...] Mistaken
identities and cross purposes proliferate like midnight
mushrooms; the characters are woven, one by one (sometimes two
by two), into a glittering web of inter-relationships [...]
there is love at first sight, the overthrow of wrong-doers and
the triumph of virtue, the reconciliation of sons with estranged
fathers and the last-minute discovery of long-lost children
[...] Whoever dug this masterpiece out for The Royal Shakespeare
Company should be knighted at once; at once.' - Bernard
Levin, in a contemporary review of the play for The Sunday Times |
Thanks to Jan Pick at the Alan
Howard website for providing information about this
production. Visit her Wild
Oats page for production photos and reviews. |
Pictures |
| Click
thumbnails to enlarge (images will open in a new window): |
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Thanks to Natalie for these pictures. |
Notes |
| According to a
contemporary article, this was the first time since 1886 that
Wild Oats had been staged. |
Reviews |
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