THE CHRISTMAS PRINCESS

8+ players, 4-8+ w, 4-5+ m.
Running time: 60 mins.


CHARACTERS

THE JESTER - a bumbling court jester, "the worst fool ever".
KING HEIRONYMOUS - Stern and strict.
THE QUEEN - his domineering wife.
THE CHRISTMAS PRINCESS - Beautiful, but spoiled and vain
LUCY THE MAID - The Princess' maid-servant.
PRINCE VALIANT - Handome, but as dumb as a bucket of rocks.
ALLAN THE WOODCUTTER - A handsome young woodsman.
WATT THE WITCH - Maybe a witch. Maybe a wise woman.
CRESCENT MOON BEAR - A huge and scary bear.
DRAGON - Even bigger and scarier. An oversize puppet.

SETTING

A royal palace, and a dark forest.

SYNOPSIS

A spoiled princess is tasked by a witch with giving to others if she wants to escape an arranged marriage to a stupid prince.


Dalia Vosylius meets the Dragon in the 2007 revival!

Christy Buchholz meets the Dragon in the premiere!

LATEST PRODUCTIONS!

Camden Middle School
Flathead High School Drama

About The Christmas Princess

A family fairy tale. 60 minutes.
4-5+ m, 4-8+ w

The Christmas Princess
Chrissy Anderson and Anoush Nevart in 2009 at the Promenade Playhouse, Los Angeles.
Directed by Paul Messinger, produced by Tara Donovan for Cruthaigh Productions.
Photo by Alex Moy.

THE CHRISTMAS PRINCESS is an original fairytale, based on elements of Japanese folklore and western mythic archetypes. And it's silly. Lots of wonderful jokes, a big scary bear who roars - an even bigger scarier dragon who threatens to eat the princess. It is published by YouthPLAYS., and is suitable for all audiences. It has had great success as a High School production being performed for elementary school audiences!

It premiered in 2005 at The Black Box Theatre in Santa Monica, and has been produced many times since, both in theatres with adult casts and with children.

The Christmas Princess
Erik von Detten in his stage debut, Bill Jones, Christine Kludjian and Dikla Marshall in the December 2007 production at the Black Box Theatre in Los Angeles.
Photo by Alex Moy.

The play starts on Christmas Eve - and the palace is in turmoil. The next day is not only Christmas, it is the wedding day of the beautiful (but spoiled) Princess and the handsome (but dumb as a bag of rocks) Prince Valiant.
The problem: the Princess doesn't want to marry a stupid prince! Desperate to find a way out of the marriage, she disguises herself as a maid and seeks the advice of Watt the Witch, who sends her on a quest to find three magical gifts that will allow her to escape her wedding - a hair from the chest of the Crescent Moon Bear, a tear from a Dragon, and a petal from a blood-rose.
Meanwhile, the Prince falls for a maid in disguise as the princess, and the Jester - the worst fool ever - is given an ultimatum: to make the King laugh by the royal wedding the next day, or be thrown into a dungeon.
On her journey, the Princess learns to use her courage and her wit to find her true self - which turns out to be where the real magic lies.

The Christmas Princess at Isle of Wight Academy
The 2022 production by the Isle of Wight Academy Drama Club.

Why this play?

I wrote the play while I was a company member of The Coop Theatre in Santa Monica, CA, and the amazing and talented Christy Buchholz told me that she had been scheduled to play a character called The Christmas Princess in one of their productions - but the character had been cut and she was desolate. Prompted by a damsel in distress that needed saving (I jest, Christy is the least "in distress" person you could ever meet), I nonetheless leapt into action and wrote the play so she could finally play the character! I was also in the middle of reading Women who Run with the Wolves, and the influences - particularly in the part of the Crescent Moon Bear - are obvious!

The Christmas Princess
The 2013 production at the Magnolia Arts Council in Arkansas.





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The Christmas Princess





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For information on producing this play, contact YouthPLAYS.