Like Rabbits (rehearsed reading) – Robert Walpole

19:30, Sun 15th February 2026 at Trinity College Old Combination Room

“Sorry, my good man, I must have misheard you – I thought you said a rabbit –“
“Not a rabbit. Rabbits. Plural.”
“…Pardon?”

In 1726, a young woman from Surrey called Mary Toft becomes an overnight celebrity when the astonishing news breaks that she has given birth to a litter of rabbits. It’s not true, obviously – but when everyone believes that it is, including King of England and his most senior doctors, the lie becomes harder and harder to keep up. As she finds herself at the centre of a courtly power struggle and, eventually, a national scandal, Mary begins to wonder if she can ever return to a life of obscurity again. Often funny, sometimes poignant, Like Rabbits is the true story of how a young woman royally deceived the whole of England, and those who paid the price.

A rehearsed reading of Act One of the play, followed by a short Q&A session.