The story of the Princess and the Pea is well known. An unknown girl turns up at the Palace and the Queen tests the girl to examine her credentials using a bed topped with soft mattresses under which is a single pea; only a true Prince will feel the pea through the mattresses and then will be chosen to marry the prince.

Usually, the princess in the story is fragile and precious, but here the story deviates. Our ninja-kicking heroine does not hold with wimpy princesses, she travels the world, often at night, to right wrongs, fighting to protect those storybook heroines that need help.

The Pea and The Princess opens strongly with the cast of three encouraging the young audience to join in and say hello. The set is bright and cheerful with 2 large books. These open later, one to provide the set for a bedroom and comfy bed the other to show the library.

The story unfolds with the arrival of the Princess meeting the Queen and a shy retiring Prince who enjoys books and science but not ‘The Outside’. The prince encourages the Princess to join him in the library and shows that he has loaded all the books onto his computer, PEA, (Plot Extraction Assistant). The Princess is very upset that all the stories have a male hero who saves the female victims, and she sets about creating new stories. PEA becomes upset at this and threatens to destroy all the books in his memory.

The set is bright, and the performers are engaging and energetic. Lots of jolly songs and witty lyrics as you would expect, however, the young audience flagged about 10 minutes towards the end after a prolonged spell with no audience participation. The final song encouraging them to make their own stories brought them back to life and they left the theatre happy.

4 stars.

Reviewer Nina Gardner.

Photo credit Tasha Best.

Playing at the Polka Theatre 15th February 2025 – 30th March 2025 for details of tickets see the link below
Suitable for 3-7 years old

Performers
Elise Zavou The Princess
Mohamed Bangura The Prince
Emily Jane Kerr The Queen

Creative Team
Jemma Last Director
Holly Mallett Lyricist and composer
Rachel Barnett-Jones Writer
TK Hay Set and Costume design
Yvonne Gilbert Sound design
Sherry Coen Lighting Design