The Willamette Repertory Theatre and the University Theatre Department have joined forces for the first time ever.
The companies will present John O’Keeffe’s 18th-century farce “Wild Oats” this month.
The show will open this weekend at the Hult Center and will run until April 20.
Wild Oats
What: | An 18th-century farce presented by the Willamette Repertory Theatre and the University Theatre Department |
When: | April 4 to April 20 |
Where: | The Soreng Theater at the Hult Center |
Cost: | $12 for students, $15 to $35 for everyone else. |
For more information, visit willrep.org or theatre.uoregon.edu |
Willamette Repertory founder Kirk Boyd said they choose “Wild Oats” because it was the perfect play to work with the theatre department.
Boyd, who is directing the play, said, “The collaboration allows us to produce a show with a large cast, and it gives the students a chance to work with professionals in a professional environment.”
Almost 20 students will grace the stage, alongside five professional actors and one professor.
Apart from acting, students also worked behind the scenes, building the play’s scenery and creating its costumes.
Boyd said there is moving scenery, choreographed to music, and wild 18th-century costumes.
Written in 1791, the play was lost until the Royal Shakespeare Company rediscovered it in 1976.
“Wild Oats” is a hilarious farce and a love letter from the playwright to Shakespeare.
Boyd said, “John O’Keeffe has his leading man spout more of Shakespeare’s words than his own.”
The story is filled with lost families, mistaken identities, disguise and a lot of action.
It revolves around the world of theater.
Boyd said the subject has allowed them to add live music and a lot of fun moments.
According to a press release, Willamette Repertory is the only professional company between Portland and Ashland that has a contract with Actors’ Equity Association, the professional actors’ union.
The Willamette Repertory Theatre is in its ninth season and has performed for more than 70,000 people.
The company has performed at the Hult Center since it first premiered.
“The Soreng Theater at the Hult has been our home since we started in 1999,” Boyd said.
Boyd, who has more than 30 years of theater experience, also worked with the Tony Award-winning Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
There are no future plans to work with the University Theatre Department at this time, but Boyd said, “Who knows?”
[email protected]