author
John O'Keeffe
1747–1833
A hugely successful Irish playwright and actor, he filled late-18th-century stages with lively comedies, farces, and comic operas. His career was marked by resilience too: after losing his sight, he continued writing and later published vivid memoirs of theatrical life.
3 Audiobooks
The Castle of Andalusia: A Comic Opera, in Three Acts
by John O'Keeffe
Fontainbleau; a comic opera. In three acts
by John O'Keeffe
Wild Oats; or, The Strolling Gentlemen
by John O'Keeffe
About the author
Born in Dublin on June 24, 1747, he first trained as a painter before theatre won him over. He acted in Dublin in his early career, then became one of the most popular dramatists working for London audiences, writing a long stream of entertainments that blended humor, stagecraft, and song.
His best-known works include The Castle of Andalusia, Fontainbleau, and Wild Oats. Contemporary accounts and later reference works describe him as especially gifted at writing pieces that pleased audiences in performance, helping shape the comic theatre of his time.
He gradually lost his sight, but continued to work with the help of assistants and remained a notable literary figure. Late in life he published Recollections of the Life of John O'Keeffe, an autobiography that offers a firsthand glimpse of the 18th-century stage and the world he helped enliven.