The Princess and The Pea- An ingeniously hilarious and
highly entertaining version of Hans Christian Andersen's story.
THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA includes all of the original characters - plus a delightful
collection of unforgettable additional characters - the new Princess candidates for
the hero, Prince Valiant, to consider as a bride (or as you will see - in many
instances, they "consider" him!) include Princess Purity of Spotless ("devoted to the
destruction of dirt, dust and debris"), Princess Allergica of Hypochondria (need we
say more?), Princess Zebrina from the Zynet Galaxy (and her cohorts, the Zingons),
"Valley" Princess Starbie from Tinsilicon, and others. Meanwhile, back at the castle,
another host of new characters appear - including Jackie the Jester (Who Yearns to
be a Serious Musician), Sir Swagger, Sir Squint and Sir Stonewall (Loyal but
Bumbling Knights of the Realm), and the Ladies-In-Waiting to The Queen: Lady Lilli
(Keeper Of The Royal Tiara), Lady Lizzie (Keeper Of The Royal Gloves), and Lady
Lulu (Keeper Of The Royal Handkerchief).
King Maximillian of Maxwell-by-the-Sea and his mother, Ancient Queen
Maude, summon Esmeralda Smythe, the only, and therefore, wisest, gypsy in
the kingdom. According to the Ancient Book of Wit and Wisdome, Esmeralda
says, the Prince must now go on a journey to seek a bride. If he finds no one
suitable, he must return home to wait for a bride to come to him. Esmeralda
can't say why this is so. She interprets the law; she doesn't explain it.
Therefore, Prince Valiant, armed with pocket gold from Father, extensive
advice from Granny, accompanied by his loyal squire, Donald Dunce, begins
his search for a REAL Princess. During his journey, he meets a number of
quite unusual princesses, but, after a while, he's still undecided, and so one
day he decides to return to his home kingdom.
That evening, in the midst of a great storm, Princess Olivia arrives at the
castle gate. Valiant immediately likes her, and asks Granny to give her the
family's REAL PRINCESS TEST. Granny agrees to arrange the Test, although
she's somewhat suspicious about any princess who turns up at the castle
gate in the middle of the night - and soaking wet, too!
Secretly placing a small dried pea under a huge stack of mattresses, Granny
privately explains to King Maximillian that if Olivia can feel that one pea
through all those layers of bedding, she is a Princess of the truest
Princessness, and worthy to marry into the family.
Unknown to Granny and the King, Donald overhears this conversation. He's
grown very fond of Olivia's companion, Lady Hildegarde (who also likes
fishing and chocolate cake), so he decides to make SURE Olivia passes the
Test. Quietly sneaking into the bedchamber, he piles rocks, pots, and other
large and lumpy objects under the top mattress.
After everyone (especially Olivia!) spends a sleepless night, the morning
reveals that she passed the Test! Yawning, everyone all happily agrees to
catch up on sleep first and celebrate later.
Even though she is very tired, it seems that poor Olivia still can't sleep, even
though Donald wisely took the precaution of removing the all the rocks, and
so on. She tosses and turns uncomfortably, until finally, looking under one of
the bottom mattresses, she finds the pea.
She removes it, and settles down to sleep, proving that she is indeed a REAL
princess of the truest Princessness.