Sleeping Beauty, Briar Rose

This version of Sleeping Beauty is based on the tales of Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm. While hunting a deer in the deep forest, a prince comes upon a young woman sitting among the ruins of an old kingdom. As the young woman tells the prince the story of the abandoned castle, we see the events as they occurred a hundred years earlier. A king and queen long to have a child and heir to the throne, and, aided by Erda, the forest fairy, their wish is granted. For the celebration of Princess Rose’s birth, the king invites a number of fairies, but not Erda. Angered, Erda places a curse on Rose that, on her 16th birthday, Rose will prick her hand on a spindle and fall dead. The other fairies soften the curse by declaring she will simply sleep for a hundred years. The king will not allow Rose to leave the castle walls in fear of her death. As Rose grows into a searching adolescent, her curiosity also grows. She meets Erda, who attempts to help her understand the wider world. On her 16th birthday, Rose pricks her hand and falls into a deep sleep. As she sleeps, she dreams, and her dreams begin to answer her life-long questions.