YORK playwright MIke Kenny has drawn inspiration from the final words of Hans Christian Andersen's story of The Princess And The Pea for his fantastical new adaptation.

"In the original version, Andersen testifies that it must be a true story because the pea ends up in a museum, so I've decided to set the play in a museum of forgotten things and fairy stuff, such as Goldilocks' bowl and spoon and Cinderella's glass slipper," says Mike, introducing his latest work for Leeds children's theatre company Tutti Frutti Productions and York Theatre Royal.

"There's also a department for important vegetables: magic beans; the enormous turnip, and the pea, of course."

The tale will be told by a cast of three, Oliver Mawdsley, Danielle Bird and professional theatre debutante Joanna Brown, in the guise of museum curators, who then turn into the Prince, the Princess and the Queen respectively, although it is not that simple.

The Prince must find the real Princess from a multitude of pretend princesses in a story that was originally called The Real Princess.

"The cast are all multi-role playing, including lots of princesses, in the search for the real Princess, so I see it as a piece about authenticity," says Mike.

"I think in the past it's been an apocryphal tale, so I'm trying to snatch it back from being a story about a princess who's easily bruised because that's a misreading of a story that is in fact totally satirical.

"If you think of another Andersen story, The Emperor's New Clothes, Andersen has never been Royalist. He was a man with a sense of humour; not only that characteristic, of course, but it's definitely there is this story, so our play is not about over-sensitivity but seeing through to the truth.

"I'm not good at these 'moral tales' and that's why it's about authenticity, rather than about being sensitive. So our Princess turns up out of nowhere in a rainstorm and doesn't come with any of the trappings of a princess, but she'll prove she's the real McCoy."

Mike has a further reason behind the plethora of princesses. "There is this 'princess' phenomenon going on, such as in the Disney shop window, with shops having a princess section. What's that all about?" he asks.

"It feels like a backlash to feminism, which is disturbing. Little girls going to parties to have their make-up done. Really? Our princesses in this show are a real variety, and I'm saying that it's possible to be a real princess and almost anything, rather than a sensitive flower.

"So we're exploring in an entertaining way, as Hans Christian Andersen was, what the idealised model of a Prince and Princess is. Our Prince is a dead loss because he's so protected, and in a way, his life only begins when the family lose all their money and he has to develop his own personality."

• Tutti Frutti Productions and York Theatre Royal present Princess And The Pea, The Studio, York Theatre Royal, September 18 to October 4, then on tour. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk Suitable for "everyone over three".