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This “scorchingly ambitious,” (The Guardian), genre-busting American premiere follows mothers and daughters over two centuries, from the dawn of the age of oil in 1889 to its “peak oil” demise sometime in the not-too-distant future. In five separate but connected playlets, a single mother named May defies the odds to provide for her daughter Amy by any means necessary. From Cornwall to Tehran, London, Baghdad, and back, the mother-daughter power struggle evolves and shifts, even as the resources that fuel it (and the rest of the world) begin to dwindle. This American premiere is bursting with theatricality and big ideas about feminism, imperialism, and environmentalism from a leading playwright wowing audiences in the U.K.

This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

By
Ella Hickson

Directed by
Tracy Brigden

Trailer for Oil by Ella Hickson

Reviews

Press

What Social Media is Saying...

"An audacious piece of writing... a huge, ambitious study of co-dependency: mother and daughter, man and machine, east and west, Britain and empire."

Time Out London

Seat Map

Oil House Map

All performances of Oil are General Admission. If you require wheelchair seating or have other mobility issues, please include this information in your order or email boxofficesupervisor@olneytheatre.org

Ella Hickson talks about Oil

Oil

February 27 - March 31 2019

Box Office: 301.924.3400

Open Wednesday - Saturday: 12:00PM - 6:00PM

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Performances of Hedwig and the Angry Inch through and including, Friday, December 24, have been canceled due to a positive COVID-19 test in the company. Affected patrons should contact the Box Office to exchange into another performance. Performances are scheduled to resume on Sunday, December 26.

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