The Beaux' Stratagem

The Beaux' Stratagem is a comedy first produced at the Theatre Royal, now the site of Her Majesty's Theatre in the Haymarket, London in 1707.   In the play, Archer and Aimwell, two young gentlemen who have fallen on hard times, plan to travel through small towns, entrap young heiresses, steal their money and move on.  They arrive at an inn which happens to be the headquarters of highwaymen.   They are  mistaken for outlaws themselves and become involved in a plot fostered by an Irishman masquerading as a French priest.