VISUAL STORY
THE SLEEPING BEAUTIES
Relaxed performance
Monday 30th December 2013
This visual story is designed for visitors to the Relaxed Performance of The
Sleeping Beauties. This document contains information about the play and lots of
images to help prepare anyone who may be anxious (or curious) about their
visit. This visual story also has information to help you to find your way around
the Sherman Theatre.
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SHERMAN THEATRE
The Sherman Theatre is on Senghennydd Road and this is what it looks like
from the outside.
You will go in through the front doors under the archway.
Once inside you will be in the foyer. The foyer can get quite busy before the
show as everyone waits to go into the auditorium (where the play is shown) so it
will be quite full of people.
We have used purple lights to make it a bit more Christmassy but there will be
lots of light so you can see where you’re going. In the foyer there is the
Ticketing desk where you can get your tickets and a bar when you can buy
drinks and sweets.
This is Cherry who is one of our ushers.
You can recognise our
ushers because they will all
be wearing black shirts that
say ‘Sherman Cymru’ on
them. If you have any
questions or feel anxious
about anything you can ask
one of the ushers.
GENERAL INFORAMTION ABOUT THE SLEEPING BEAUTIES
How long is the play?
The play is shown in two halves with a break in the middle (called the
‘interval’) and is 2 hours long.
The first half will last approximately 50 minutes
The interval lasts 20 minutes.
The second half will last approximately 50 minutes.
Inside the auditorium
The auditorium is where the audience sits and watches the show. On your ticket
it will say you seat number. The seat numbers are on the inside of your chairs.
The stage is
where the actors
perform.
During the play
there will be
different pieces
of furniture,
scenery and
objects on
stage. This is
called the set.
On the side of stage you can see a big spinning wheel
that is also a piano and one of the actors will play
during the performance.
What is the play about?
SPOILER ALERT: This section explains most of the plot so please don’t read or share
this information if you don’t want to know!
At the beginning of the play we meet the Queen who really, really wants a baby.
With her is her servant, Rose, who is going to have a baby. The Queen makes a
deal with the witch in the forest. The witch will give the Queen a baby if the
Queen promises to make the King stop cutting down the forest. The Queen tries
but the King is being controlled by his Evil advisor, Clove. The Queen gives
birth to a baby called Dawn and Rose has a baby called Eve. But because the
Queen broke her promise to the Witch, the witch curses Dawn and promises that
Dawn will prick her finger and die when she is 15.
The girls grow up best friends, but although the king tries to get rid of all of the
needles in the land the witch makes sure that her curse is carried out but Eve
makes a deal that means that rather than dying the two girls go to sleep for 1000
years.
After 1000 years Prince is exploring the forest and comes across the girls. He
kisses Dawn, which wakes up her and Eve. He takes them back to The Big
City. The people in The Big City think that Eve and Dawn are part of a legend
about the princess in the forest who will come back. They go and see Prince’s
adopted Mum, Queenie, who is really Clove in disguise. Queenie invites them
to stay and tells them that they need to get ready for the Pig and Wolf ball. At
the ball Dawn and Prince dance together and fall in love. This makes Eve feel
left out.
Eve explores the castle and finds Echo and Queenie. She sees Queenie doing a
spell and realises that Queenie is in fact Clove. Eve tries to tell Dawn and
Prince but they ignore her. Queenie tells Prince and Dawn that they are going
to get married, Eve tries to stop them but they won’t listen. She goes and finds
the witch who tells Eve that she can save Dawn and stop the wedding.
In the meantime Queenie has poisoned an apple that she intends to give to
Dawn. On the wedding day Eve tries to stop the wedding but Queenie traps her
and threatens to hurt her unless Dawn eats the apple. Dawn eats the apple to
save Eve and falls to the ground. Queenie thinks she’s won but as she
celebrates the witch returns with the forest and Queenie disappears.
Dawn comes round because she didn’t really eat the apple. Prince and Dawn
decide not to get married yet and Eve and Dawn’s friendship is mended.
What will the play look like?
Here are some pictures of what the play will look like:
This is Rose with the King and the
Queen. Rose is Eve’s Mum. The
actress who plays Rose also plays
Eve, and the actress who plays the
Queen also plays Dawn
This is the Queen, the King and
Clove. The King and Queen are
Dawn’s Mum and Dad. Clove is the
King’s advisor but has the King
under an evil spell.
This is the witch in the forest. The
witch might seem scary but she is
good really.
Shadows are used to show when Eve
and Dawn are born.
This is Eve and Dawn at their
birthday party.
This is Eve and Dawn after they
have just woken up and in the
background is Prince. In The
Sleeping Beauties the trees in the
forest are represented by these wire
and glitter columns
This is Queenie. Queenie is Prince’s
mum but is also Clove in disguise.
This is the Pig and Wolf ball where
Dawn and Prince dance. The actors
wear masks at the ball to look like
wolves and pigs
FURTHER INFORMATION
There are also some notes on particular moments which are dramatic,
distressing or exciting which you might want to talk through before coming to
see the show.
 During the birthday party the witch will pop the balloons so there will be
5 loud bangs.
 Some of the actors play more than one character so you will see them on
stage in different costumes as different people.
 There are some frightening moments at the beginning when the witch is
on stage and later on when Clove casts the spell on the apple.
We Hope You Have A Great Time!
At the end of the performance and when you get home, there will be a chance to tell
us about your experience, we hope you will let us have your comments and
feedback….
.