Beauty and the Beast

The text of The Royal Shakespeare Company's Christmas Show 2003.

A magical re-telling of the story of Beauty and the Beast, first performed in this version by the Royal Shakespeare Company.

A magical re-telling of the story of Beauty and the Beast, first performed in this version by the Royal Shakespeare Company.

When Beauty's father hears that his long-lost ship packed with pearls has landed safely in harbour, he sets out on a long, difficult journey to claim his fortune and rescue his family from poverty.

But when, stumbling across a magic world belonging to a fearsome beast, he picks a rose as a present for his favourite daughter, the family find themselves in a nightmarish predicament from which only Beauty can rescue them...

This timeless tale of the true nature of beauty and the transformational power of love is brought to glorious life in Laurence Boswell's thrilling and inventive adaptation, which draws on the origins of the tale in French folklore, and is filled with music, dance and song.

Laurence Boswell's much-performed retelling of the classic fairytale was first performed at the Young Vic, London, in 1996. It was revived, in this revised version, by the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon in 2003.