Mary Rodgers’ ONCE UPON A MATTRESS review/Upstairs at the Gatehouse, Highgate 5 – 29 March 2020

‘well-sung, jazzy Broadway numbers, imaginative costumes and happy endings, you will have a fabulous time’ ★★★★    

For the first time I arrive at the Gatehouse early enough to fetch a seat facing the stage directly. Their general popularity is quickly proven by the well worn seats and I almost expect a gimmicky marble stuck with Blu Tack on the red cushion – wouldn’t that have been a hilarious gag for a staging of an evening-filling musical based on Hans Christian Andersen’s one-pager The Princess and the Pea?

But do not fear, there will be plenty of laugh out-loud-moments: A prince’s search for a bride is led by his legume-jewellery loving mother and the wizard, assisted only rarely by his father, the king, cursed with muteness and hence communicating only through his minstrel, his jester and the occasional charades. While no candidate is good enough for the queen, the court is desperate for the royal wedding – by law, no one else can marry before the prince has done so. Imagine this as an already secretly pregnant lady-in-waiting! In need for a genuine certified princess, the first knight ventures out yet again further and in a swamp kingdom far, far away he finds another candidate. Blessed with a pragmatic hands-on attitude rather than a fairy godmother, this foreign princess arrives soaking wet after having overtaken the knight and swimming through the moat. Soon her refreshing directness has enchanted not only the prince but the whole castle – everyone, but the queen who must now think of a wicked plan to prevent Princess Winnifred-just-call-me-Fred becoming her daughter-in-law…

The makers of Shrek have for sure got some ideas from this rarely staged musical, which debuted in 1959 – if your prefer the ogre franchise interpretations of fairy tales to the panto extravaganzas, if you love well-sung, jazzy Broadway numbers, imaginative costumes and happy endings, you will have a fabulous time. Once Upon A Mattress balances all this fabulously and manages to be both family-friendly and clever, never annoying and neither too long. The players create scenes of admirably well-coordinated chaos, and their joyous enthusiasm is contagious – they have an incredible amount of fun on stage. I’d happily go again!

Photographer: Andreas Lambis

ONCE UPON A MATTRESS 

Upstairs at the Gatehouse, March 5th - 29th 2020

Starring Beth Burrows as Princess Winnifred

Julia Faulkner as Queen Aggravain 

Theo Toksvig-Stewart as Prince Dauntless.

Presented by: Alces Productions

Director: Mark Giesser 

Choreographer: Chris Whittaker 

Musical director: Jessica Douglas 

Designer: Giulia Scrimieri 

BOX OFFICE https://www.upstairsatthegatehouse.com/once-upon-a-mattress

Sadie Labram started reviewing theatre after being bored once again in a hotel room while travelling abroad: Since then watching a performance of anything is on the agenda whenever she goes away. She has reviewed theatre in the UK, Germany, Japan, Austria and Switzerland. Sadie is originally from Germany's musical capital Hamburg but has lived in London for over 10 years. 

Twitter: @sadiettstage