HERE’S a test – can you tell the story of the Princess and the Pea? I must confess, I was a bit vague, though I knew there were 20 mattresses involved.

It was the same when writer David Finnigan was asked by “serious theatre” artists, barb barnett and Gillian Schwab, to adapt Hans Christian Andersen’s famous tale for the stage.

“It’s so iconic,” Finnigan says. “It’s one of those cultural things – all people roughly ‘know’ it.”

I rush to my trusty collection of Andersen stories and find that the real title in Danish is actually “The Princess on the Pea”. Finnigan is impressed.

“The story is so quick and so simple that I thought it would be too hard to adapt,” he says.

Enter barnett and Schwab, bursting with ideas. They’ve been commissioned by The Street’s Caroline Stacey to create a work with the potential to tour regional centres.

They’ve ended up extending the story and answering key questions – where has Princess Gwendolyn come from? What else is going on in the palace? And what kind of princess hangs out in the Wild Western Wood with wolves? Certainly, not the kind the Queen approves of.

In brief, Finnigan asked the question what does being a “real” princess actually mean?

The answer: someone who can see through superficiality, who has an inbuilt sensitivity to bulldust.

Oh, yes, Finnigan has introduced a nasty dragon who “rampages through the countryside snuffling up ash” and set the story in The Museum of Legendary Vegetables, with the Pea becoming the narrator.

Next test question: Name some famous vegetables.

The giant dragon will only be viewed in bits – the snout, for instance, but there are also shadow puppets, cut-out puppets, full-size puppets, rival princesses as large cut-out puppets and, of course, human actors Cathy Petöcz and Josh Wiseman, who play many characters.

Finnigan, who’s just finished directing the “You Are Here” festival is a sophisticated artist, so on his own admission this has all been a steep learning curve. It’s helped that he has a young niece in the right age group, 4-10 years old, and a primary school teacher mum to give him some perspective.

As he says: “I’m slightly out of my depth, and enjoying it.”

“PEA!”, The Street Theatre, April 20-27, bookings to 6247 1223 or thestreet.org.au