The Sleeping Prince

by Terence Rattigan

performed by BTG February 1967

An occasional fairy tale.

The Prince Regent of Carpathia, in London for the coronation of King George V, has arranged for a midnight supper with a pretty chorus girl. But to his dismay, he finds the chorus girl has her own ideas as to how the supper should be conducted. By the time he has persuaded her to fall in with him, she has also fallen in love with him. But the Royal Family of Carpathia abhors love and considers it unnecessary for the efficient conduct of their affairs. Just as the Regent thinks he is getting rid of the chorus girl, his wife decides she must accompany her to the Coronation as her Lady-in-Waiting. When that is over and the Regent again thinks he's going to be rid of the girl, his son, The King of Carpathia, asks her to go with him to an official ball. The Regent and his son are having a tussle as to which political party is to control the country; the King is too young to have any official voice, but he's hoping his party may depose his father and put him on the throne before he attains his majority. During the ball, the chorus girl persuades the King to co-operate with his father - in exchange for a motorcycle and the promise that he won't have to marry a neighbouring princess who is a first-class brat. When the chorus girl has achieved all this for the Regent, he decides that he too is in love, but by then it's time for him to return to Carpathia, leaving the chorus girl to bid a wistful farewell to the royal family, and to take home an outsize collection of royal decorations and signed royal photographs.

This was BTG's 50th Anniversary performance.