Once Upon a Mattress - by Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller, and Marshall Barer

This musical is a clever retelling of the fairytale about the Princess and the Pea. It is set many moons ago in a distant kingdom, where, due to an unhappy curse, King Sextimus is unable to speak, while his terror-­‐of-­‐a-­‐ wife, Queen Aggravain, has taken over control of the kingdom. Most importantly, in an attempt to keep Prince Dauntless single and powerless, she has decreed that only the princess that can pass her test may marry her son. Further, no one else in the kingdom may marry until Prince Dauntless does. Luckily, Sir Harry is able to find an amazing princess, Winnifred the Woebegone. She instantly catches the attention of Prince Dauntless, and is able to pass the Queen’s supposedly impassable sensitivity test. When the Queen still tries to prevent the prince from marrying, he tells her to ‘shut up’ which ends up breaking the curse on the king. Now able to speak, King Sextimus regains his rightful position as leader of the kingdom, and all is well.

Cast

Minstrel (Kevin Gunning); Wizard (Neil Smith); Princess No. 13 (Sally Parker); Queen Aggravain (Jane Weston); King Sextimus the Silent (David Burbidge); Prince Dauntless the Drab (Simon Crutchley); Jester (Becca Musty); Lady Larken (Tina Burbidge); Sir Harry (Richard Parker); Princess Winnifred the Woebegone (Amanda Davey); Lady Mabelle/Nightingale of Samarkand (Marion O’Sullivan); Ladies-in-waiting, Knights, Soldiers, Servants, Musicians etc: (Florence Barrett, Brenda Beasant, Jenny Burbidge, Bev Cammish, Charlotte Davey, Pat Herring, Chris Mercer, Jane Moysey, Helen Paige, Sally Parker, Vanya Smith, Tom Vose, Rob Merrett, Barry Mercer & Rob Burbidge)

Directed by: Rob Burbidge