Auditions for Sleeping Beauty

[siguard_norge]

Siguard prepared the chairs in the auditorium and placed a copy of the script on each chair. He parked himself in one of the auditorium's chairs (leaving one open beside him for Arthur, after all, the Co-Director needed a place of honor. He was hoping to plunge himself into the play and hopefully it would distract him from some of his pain. He knew

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[siguard_norge]

"Sleeping Beauty started out as a story, for children, as well, this is the more... child friendly... version." He coughed. "In the original story there were seven fairies and the princess was never spirited away by them for her protection, and she was promised to no prince. She grew up in the castle and when she was sixteen she met an old woman spinning in a tower, who welcomed her to spin with her. She was not evil, just an old woman. And after she pricks her finger the spell is kept in place by a splinter in her finger and the entire kingdom falls asleep and is encased in thorns. There she slept for 100 years, and several princes had attempted her rescue, all who died by the thorns. Then, a old king who is married to a horrible troll, he finds a way into the castle and sees her sleeping there... and rapes her... he returns several times to rape her. She becomes pregnant... twice and gives birth in her sleep. Then one day her youngest puts her finger into his mouth and suckles the splinter out. She awakes and the king brings her back to his kingdom, and immediately has to leave. It leaves her and her babies at the mercy of his troll wife who plans to eat them. She has to defeat the troll to save her children... and then the king makes her is queen... ... It's a very upsetting story, no one gets any punishment for their misdeeds besides the troll. But the man who had raped her and gave her no choice but to kill to save her babies never is punished for his misdeeds, and is in fact rewarded by having his troll disposed of and getting her as a wife. I'm sure you wouldn't want to play THAT kind of man."

[alfredfyeajones]

Alfred listened to Siguard, his facial expressions progressively becoming more and more disturbed as the story progressed. And when it was finished, he wasn't sure what to say.

"... Uhh... He RAPED her??? In her sleep?? Twice?? I hope kids ever had to hear THAT version!" Because even Francis would have found that story disturbing... He could only imagine the scarring it would do to an innocent elementary school child.

"And nothing bad happens to the king? The princess just stays with him??" Where was the justice in that?? "What hell made people write these twisted stories anyway??"

[siguard_norge]

"Well, the original story is attributed to Perrault and there was also an adaptation by The Brothers Grimm who were known for having gory, scary stories. Sleeping Beauty is a Fairy Tale, not a Fable, so there is no moral and therefore all those who have done a wrong needn't be punished.

"And, more likely than not, she was probably raped repeatedly, not just twice. As well, he could probably be charged with reckless neglect of infants seeing as he only saw the children he produced when he came to rape the princess again, otherwise they were left alone with their sleeping mother. But, as not only a man, but a king, in that time period he had a right to claim, if even by rape, any woman he wanted, and should he decide that she would be his wife or concubine she really had little other choice. She was cattle. You can't commit an evil act against an object that is your property. I felt that the child safe version was the far better choice, we obviously can't have you raping sleeping beauty and having her giving birth on that stage now can we?" He drawled, still scribbling down on his pad. There was no prince in the original, just a horrible king. The king would never be a role that someone with Alfred's desire to be a hero would play. Luckily this prince was far more in line with Alfred's personality.

[alfredfyeajones]

"Uhh, yeah, good to know there's no rape scenes in this... Especially if there's refreshments afterwards, cause I don't think ANYBODY could stomach food if they had to watch what you just described to me first!" Maybe not even him... He shuddered at the thought of what he would have had to do for the original play, but then a smile formed across his lips as Siguard's words fully sunk in. "Wait- so does this mean I'm playing Prince Phillip then?" he asked eagerly. "That's awesome!!!" He wondered who the princess would be... After all, he'd have to kiss her... or, judging by the turnout of the audition, kiss HIM.

[siguard_norge]

"Yes, that was his name in the cartoon. And yes, he was a superior moral guidepost compared to his canonical predecessor." Siguard nodded. "I may have you read with Peter when he's ready, if you don't mind, before I take everyone's measurements."