TURNERS FALLS — Members of the Four Rivers Charter Public School Drama Club will take to the Shea Theater Arts Center stage this weekend to perform “Once Upon a Mattress,” a retelling of the story “The Princess and the Pea.”

Director Leah Plath said the musical’s story takes place “many moons ago in a far-off place.” After Queen Aggravain decrees that no couples can marry until her son, Prince Dauntless, finds a bride, princesses flock to the area from far and wide hoping to win the prince’s hand in marriage. However, no one can pass the impossible tests given to them by the queen. That is, until the shy swamp princess, Winnifred the Woebegone, shows up.

“Prince Dauntless has been patiently waiting for his princess for years and years, and all his mother wants is to keep him,” said Ivy Newcombe, a junior at Four Rivers who plays Prince Dauntless. “When Princess Winnifred comes, [Prince Dauntless] falls instantly in love with her. ... She’s just perfect in his eyes.”

Willa Punches, a senior at Four Rivers who plays Princess Winnifred, said the Drama Club had three options to choose from for this spring’s musical: “The Adams Family,” “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” and “Once Upon a Mattress.”

“[Once Upon a Mattress] was my top choice,” Punches said. “I’m really excited about it. ... I feel like we get to move around a lot and there’s a lot of fun things going on, and I like sitting on a large bed.”

Plath said the show is “really whimsical.”

“It’s a golden era musical,” she explained. “It was originally on Broadway in 1959, and so it has a lot of class and the playfulness of classic Broadway musicals.”

Opening night will be Friday, March 8, at 7 p.m. Another two performances are set for Saturday, March 9, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. Children under 5 years old will be admitted for free.

Tickets can be purchased at events.humanitix.com/once-upon-a-mattress-a-four-rivers-drama-club-production.