Wild Oats is a comedy play by the Irish writer John O'Keeffe which premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden 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 as Rover, Joseph George Holman as Harry, Richard Wilson as John Dory, Thomas Hull as Banks, William Cubitt as Gammon, Joseph Shepherd Munden as Ephraim Smooth, William Blanchard as Sim, James Thompson as Sailor, Charles Farley as Sailor, Willaim Macready as Midg, Jane Pope as Lady Amaranth and Mary Wells as Jane. The Irish premiere took place at the Crow Street Theatre in Dublin on 5 December 1791.

John O'Keeffe was an Irish actor and dramatist. He wrote a number of farces, amusing dramatic pieces and librettos for pasticcio operas, many of which had great success. Among these are Tony Lumpkin in Town (1778), Love in a Camp (1786), and Omai (1785), an account of the voyages of the Tahitian explorer Omai, and Wild Oats (1791).