The story of the “The Beauty Sleeping in the Wood” first appeared

in 1697 in a collection of stories by the French author Charles Perrault

and was later adapted as the story “Little Briar Rose” by the Brothers Grimm.

It was derived from old folk tales about the changing of the seasons

and the land “going to sleep”. The one constant throughout the various

tellings has been the character of the evil stepmother or old woman,

who only wishes evil upon all she meets. In the traditional story

she is annoyed at not being invited to the celebrations for the

Princess’s coming of age. It has been performed in pantomime

since the 18th century and is one of the regular stock of tales

used as plots for English pantomime. Tchaikovsky took the story

as inspiration for his ballet “Sleeping Beauty” and we have used

his famous overture as the welcoming music for our performances.