“Once Upon a Mattress” Summary

“Once Upon a Mattress” is the modern day version of “The Princess and the Pea” with the intentions of a prince trying to find a real princess in hopes of marrying her. The prince, Prince Dauntless has been searching for a princess for the twelfth time. Twelve princesses have been eagerly waiting to meet Prince Dauntless. He has found many hopeful applicants but, has only been turned down because of his mother Queen Aggravain. Queen Aggravain believes in testing the princesses to find out if they are real princesses. Real princesses would pass the tests and prove they deserve to be with Prince Dauntless. Prince Dauntless wishes that his mother would not make up silly tests because the princesses always seem to fail which, leaves him with nobody. Queen Aggravain’s real motive for quizzing the princesses these ridiculous tests is because she does not wish her son to marry a princess that will be apart of the throne. She wants her son to be patient in finding someone that will soon be with him for the rest of his life.

Other characters in the play were The Minstrel, The Wizard, Lady Larkin, The Jester, Princess Winnifred, and Sir Harry. The Minstrel was the narrator and a stand off character that made observations on the scenes. Lady Larkin and Sir Harry were in a relationship; Lady Larkin has been pregnant during the play. The Wizard, The Jester, and Prince Dauntless’s father King Sextimus were the three characters who exhibited the comical lines. However, King Sextimus has lost his voice due to a curse put on him. He can only gain his voice back if a mouse seizes a lion. The Jester has found a princess for Prince Dauntless; a princess who is from the swamps of the land. Queen Aggravain already disapproves of Princess Winnifred; she believes she is not suitable to marry her son. Princess Winnifred is the witty character with an extraordinary personality. She has a keen sense of humor and is liked by most of the ladies and gentlemen of the court. The Minstrel and the Jester are destined to match Princess Winnifred with Prince Dauntless because they are tired of searching for other princesses. In order, for them to succeed in their task, they have to be knowledgeable of the test Queen Aggravain will give to Princess Winnifred. The Minstrel knew that the Wizard and Queen Aggravain have been talking and deciding on which test to give to her. Queen Aggravain decides to test her on sensitivity. She plans to have about twenty mattresses on top of a single green pea. And if the so-called princess can feel the pea under the twenty mattresses, then, she would be suitable for the prince. After her long, restless night of sleeping, Princess Winnifred has passed the sensitivity test because she did not sleep at all. In conclusion, Prince Dauntless had yelled at his mother which caused King Sextimus to speak again. The Jester explained that the mouse (Prince Dauntless) had seized the lion (Queen Aggravain). The gentlemen and the ladies of the courts revealed the true reason behind Princess Winnifred’s restless night. Under all the mattresses, there has been armor and hard objects which caused her to feel them throughout the night. “Once Upon a Mattress” has been a delightful musical to watch with humorous changes to the original fairy tale.