Once Upon a Mattress

Synopsis

The musical version of the popular fairy tale The Princess and the Pea. The young Prince cannot find a bride to meet his mother's demands, unaware that the wicked Queen has no intention of giving up her throne so easily. Even the mute King, who has been placed under an enchanted spell, cannot help the lad. It is left to the Court Jester, the Wizard and the Minstrel to save the day!

Our Review:

10 December 2012

This festive season, one of Southwark’s truly delightful hidden gems plays host to Once Upon a Mattress, a 1950s musical adaption of classic fairy tale The Princess and the Pea that claims to reveal a more accurate, untold version of events.

At first, this production appears to lack purpose, losing sight of what it wants to be; is it a bawdy take on an old classic aimed at adults or a wholesome piece of children’s entertainment? Admittedly, Mary Rodgers’s score and Marshall Barer’s lyrics are dated and do not really provide material of a consistently high quality for the cast and creative team to work with, but if this is intended to be a tongue-in-cheek version of a timeless classic then numerous tricks and opportunities to raise laughs are completely missed by various cast members.

Purpose rapidly loses importance, though, as the performance gets into full swing, the fantastic array of talent on stage unfolds and we are treate...

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