Cultural Event #1 - Once Upon A Mattress

Once Upon A Mattress is based on the story The Princess and the Pea.

The Princess and the Pea is about a prince who needs to marry a princess, but everyone he found had something wrong with them. Every time a potential was found, his parents would test her to make sure that she was a real princess, and every single princess failed. They hear of one who hasn't been tested yet, but lives very far away. A knight goes to retrieve her, and arrives soaking wet and covered in mud. Everyone in the castle was appalled at the way she arrived, and doubted her. The prince slowly starts to fall in love with her, and helps her prepare for the tests. The queen decided that one night she would test her by placing a single pea underneath 20 mattresses thinking she would never feel it and sleep perfectly fine. She used this test because according to the queen, a princess should be sensitive. The next morning, the princess looks very tired and claims she wasn't able to sleep at all because the mattress was way too lumpy. She passed the test, and was then able to marry the prince.

This performance was very entertaining. It was easy to follow, all all the actors did a wonderful job. The princess did a wonderful job of portraying the odd and crazy characteristics of the character. She was full of energy, and had the most remarkable voice that echoed above everyone else's. The props were minimal, but tasteful at the same time. What was used was switched around enough in each scene to really portray the different scenes. My favorite scene was when the prince sang with his father, the king, about the bird and the bees. The fact that the king was silent up until the very end of the play really showed how words weren't needed for his character. The queen was loud, obnoxious, and bossy throughout the play, and it was wonderful when she lost her voice at the end. The entire play kept me laughing and kept my attention the entire time. It was awesome.