Once
Upon a Mattress
Ickle Pickle
Productions
Belconnen Theatre
January 2019
In the programme
notes, the mission statement of Ickle Pickle Productions is plainly set out; it
was ‘established to provide a wide range of original entertainment to the
Canberra community, as well as performance and production opportunities for
children and adults of all skill levels and experience’. The current production,
Once upon a Mattress, clearly fits
this remit. Everyone knows the story of the Princess and the Pea, and just in
case they don’t, the opening number, Many
Moons Ago, sung by the Minstrel (Elliot Cleaves with an appealing delivery),
spells it out through inspired use of puppetry and song. And then the show
begins, with a slightly different version.
Prince Dauntless (Isaac
Gordon) needs a wife, as he is clearly in possession of a good fortune, or at
least a kingdom, and the whole universe knows what that means. He is a dutiful
if dopey son who spends a lot of time sitting on a bench and swinging his legs
while looking totally clueless. Gordon is charming and sweet in the role, but it
is evident that his attributes are capital rather than cerebral. An Opening for a Princess is a sprightly
tune that indicates how all the princesses have applied for the position of
bozo’s bride, but been found wanting by Queen Aggravain (Deanna Gibbs) and her sidekick
the Gypsy (Sarah Hull).
This is the first
indication of something rotten in the kingdom; the relationship between the
mother and her son is deeply troubling, as she repels all his suitors and
actually wishes she were twenty years younger, so that she could… what? That’s
not nice. Her husband, King Sextimus (Joe Moores), moons about in the
background chasing servant girls with plates of food across the stage in a
manner that is more than a little creepy. He is mute due to a curse that cannot
be lifted until ‘the mouse devours the hawk’ – the metaphor is evident.
Unfortunately, no
one else in the kingdom can marry until Dauntless does, which poses a problem
for Lady Larken (Alissa Pearson) and Sir Harry (Steven Galinec) as Lady Larken
is pregnant. Obviously this will soon become apparent, as they allude to in the
none-too-subtle duet, In a Little While,
which showcases Pearson’s operatic tones. Sir Harry undertakes the challenge to
find a true princess to satisfy the demanding queen, and he returns with one. This
princess (Alex McPherson) comes from a watery land (she sings The Swamps of Home in a charming parody
of nostalgia) and is strong and brave – she swims the moat; she lifts impressive
weights; she ‘wrestles like a Greek’; she drinks ‘drinks just like a lord’ –
and, so she tells us, she is shy.
 |
| Alex McPherson as Princess Winnifred |
The role was originally
played by Carol Burnett, who made her Broadway debut and received a Tony Award
nomination for her performance. It is entirely to the credit of McPherson and
director Anita Davenport that the ghost of Burnett doesn’t haunt the show.
Princess Winnifred the Woebegone is nicknamed Fred, which leads to the lively
pre-interval Song of Love containing
the catchy refrain, ‘I’m in love with a girl called Fred’. McPherson is utterly
delightful with her brash and unrefined manners, displayed alongside affection
for those who need assistance, and a complete disregard for convention.
Queen Aggravain
chooses a test for her based on sensitivity (apparently only a true princess
could feel the presence of a pea beneath a pile of mattresses), imagining that
she has none due to her rustic presentation, but even the youngest of audience
members knows that Fred has genuine compassion and will pass with flying
colours. McPherson and Gordon make a cute couple – they play their characters
with energy and brilliance in lieu of intellect; both are sweet and affable
enough that one isn’t left wondering what on earth they see in each other. When
Dauntless says, ‘I like – I mean, I love you, Fred’, it seems genuine and
heartfelt.
 |
| Isaac Gordon as Prince Dauntless and Alex McPherson as Princess Winnifred |
Once
upon a Mattress was originally a shorter play, written in 1953, that
was expanded for the Broadway stage. It has remained a popular choice for high school
and community theatre productions ever since, although it suffers from age and uneven
tone. Davenport has cut some numbers, but the show still feels as though it
could do with some tightening and pruning. Some of the songs are weak: Normandy and Spanish Panic could have been trimmed from the end of the first act
with no great loss, and The Minstrel, Jester and I and Nightingale
Lullaby are slightly tedious fillers. Choreography by Jodi Hammond is
simple and tidy, and she creates interesting shapes which fit the varying
degrees of talent and experience that she has to work with, but the big dance numbers
are somewhat underwhelming.
The subplot of Sir
Harry and his lady love is incongruous, and introduces a curious note.
Generally the show could be considered children’s theatre: the plot is straightforward;
the songs are not challenging; the characters are one-dimensional; it’s a fairy-tale
world. However, there is an out-of-wedlock pregnancy and the consideration of
the consequences that would have on reputations at court as Lady Larken is not
so much a lady in waiting as one expecting. This, a couple of ribald references
about living in sin, and the fairly painful song, Man to Man Talk, in which King Sextimus has to mime the business
about the birds and the bees to his hopelessly naïve son, put this beyond the
realm of the young and innocent.
The gender
politics are also complicated, as they often are in shows from a time long ago
and far away. Although the notion itself is repellent Davenport handles the
issue of women fighting over an eligible bachelor better than many a reality TV
show. She can’t overcome the misogynistic stereotype of the harridan Queen, as her
character hinges on the premise that women in charge are shrill and
manipulative, and the retribution that the King will exact once he has returned
to his ‘rightful place’ as ruler of the kingdom leaves a sour taste. However,
Davenport has given the Queen a great accomplice by changing the character of
the Wizard to a Gypsy, played in a comic interpretation by Sarah Hull as a
perfect down-to-earth counterpoint to the Queen’s saccharine superficiality.
 |
| The Minstrel (Elliot Cleaves) and the Jester (Jack Morton) |
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