"Once Upon A Mattress"

This musical portrayed women in one of the two most stereotypical ways. The Queen mother was overbearing, controlling, shrill and obssessed with her son and finding the "perfect" woman for him. Women are usually portrayed as being submissive and docile or they are the complete opposite and are like the Queen was in the play. She was portrayed as the bad character, she was preventing her son from marrying, she only cared about herself and no one in the kingdom seemed to like her. This kind of woman character has been portrayed in modern films as well like in Monster-in-Law and to a lesser extent in the movie Family Stone. What is interesting about this play is that the males are more like what women usually are. The son is a "momma's boy" and never stands up to her even when she is unfair and the King is a mute. I really enjoyed the play, the actors all did a great job and I laughed a lot! Good job you guys!