Once Upon A Mattress

With stunning costumes, clever dialogue, and a mountain of mattresses, Year 9 and 10 students delivered a quirky spin on the classic fairy tale, Princess and the Pea, in the light-hearted Middle School production, Once Upon a Mattress.

Director, Ginnie Thorner, says the humorous musical, originally written in 1959, presented some challenges for the young cast, many of whom had never been on stage or danced before. But she was proud of the way they dug deep and delivered some great performances.

Many of our student cast stepped into roles which required them to stretch beyond their comfort zones, with others finding new strengths they didn’t know they had.

Ginnie says what makes Once Upon a Mattress so special is its ability to playfully subvert the classic Princess and the Pea story while still offering some delightful moments which explore relationships between characters. “Stories like this endure because they remind us that humour, love, and cleverness can triumph over the most absurd obstacles.”

This was the first Middle School production held in the new Gough Family Theatre, with the ability to rehearse in the space a major plus, says Ginnie.

She is grateful to the large creative team behind the scenes who helped bring the show from page to stage, including Musical Director, Duncan Ferguson, Choreographer, Hana Pearce, Costume Designer, Sylvia Campbell, Hair Designer, Mel Halle, and Set Designer, Rosie Gilmore.

“We had an amazing parent team to help with hair, and a group of dedicated Senior students who helped with auditions, hair and make-up, crew, backstage, and assisting with all manner of tasks,” she says.

The show’s challenging musical score was impressively played live by a young, talented orchestra, made up of mainly Year 7–10 students, accompanied by two Year 13 students, Tamaroa Connelly and Sea-am Thompson, along with Grace Lawrence (Head Prefect 2022).

Together, the large cast, musicians, and crew, delivered a colourful, toe-tapping show, which showed the timeless magic of fairy tales.

Classic Fairytale Retold

One Upon a Mattress had all the beats of the timeless fairy tale, delivered with a modern twist. The setting was a medieval kingdom, ruled with an iron fist by the steely Queen Aggravain, played with great relish by an impressive RuoLin (Lauren) Li (Year 10) who commanded the stage whenever she appeared. At her side was her mute husband, King Sextimus the Silent, with Max McAlister (Year 10) doing a great job in the difficult role, which saw him communicate mainly through charades rather than speaking.

No one in the kingdom could marry until the couple’s hapless and slightly dim, although sweet son, Prince Dauntless married, so all, including Dauntless himself, played with enthusiasm by Austin Paterson (Year 10), were keen for this to happen.

None more so than preening Sir Harry (a confident Frederick Paterson – Year 9), and Lady Larken (Angela Yang – Year 9) who after discovering she is pregnant, feel the pressure to make their relationship official. Angela had one of the standout voices in the show, wowing the audience during the duet, In a Little While.

With the Queen concocting ever more impossible challenges for potential brides for Dauntless, Sir Harry left on a quest to find a new candidate, returning with the unrefined, rough-and-tumble princess, Winifred, from a swamp far away.

The plucky, slightly eccentric free spirited ‘Fred’ as she liked to be known, was not an easy role to play, but Holly Coggan (Year 10) did a great job, throwing herself into the physical comedy and song and dance numbers, and believably charming her way into Dauntless’s heart.

Adele Sherborne (Year 10) was a strong presence, obviously enjoying her role as the Wizard, who together with the Queen, came up with the ‘sensitivity test’ for Fred, involving a pea and a pile of 20 mattresses.

Others to shine were the Minstrels, with Edward Keenan (Year 10), putting in another impressive performance after his star turn in last year’s The Little Mermaid. His fellow Minstrel, Violet McInnes (Year 9), was also a strong actor and singer.

Samuel Hu (Year 9) delivered great energy and enthusiasm as the Jester, and almost stole the show on numerous occasions. His poignant number with the Knights, Thomas Ambury and Harrison Mugford (both Year 9), called Very Soft Shoes, was one of the highlights.

The rest of the large cast, some with speaking parts, and others as part of the ensemble, gave their all during every scene.

The show ended when the King, Minstrel, and Jester learnt about the test and stuffed the mattresses full of weapons and other sharp items so Fred would pass the test. She was later troubled by the pea as well, proving she was indeed a true princess. In classic fairy tale tradition, everyone lived happily ever after, with the whole cast enthusiastically performing the lively Finale, to end the show on a high note.