Act I Princess Ida, the daughter of King Gama (from across the distant water) was wed at twelve months to Prince Hilarion, son of King Hildebrand and his Queen. At the wedding, Gama agreed to return the princess to Hildebrand’s court no later than sundown of a given day or face a bloody war. It is now that day. The show opens with Hildebrand’s court including the groom and his best men, Florian and Cyril and the groom’s mother. Hildebrand expects Gama and his three sons, Arac, Guron and Scynthius to bring the Princess as agreed. No one is quite sure of the outcome and they prepare the court for good and bad news.
King Gama arrives at last, accompanied only by his hulking warrior sons. He tells them Princess Ida has chosen a life of independence from men, sequestering herself in Castle Adamant where she now reigns, Head Mistress of a women’s college. In righteous fury, Hildebrand locks the Gama family in the dungeon.
Act II A short time later we find ourselves at Princess Ida’s college. Hilarion and his friends decide to sneak over the walls of the college. What they find is Lady Blanche, her daughter Melissa and Lady Psyche (Florian’s sister). When the three friends encounter Lady Psyche, she compares man to the Darwinian ape. Lady Blanche, jealous of Princess Ida’s position, seizes the opportunity to gain control, joining her daughter Melissa and the enamored Lady Psyche in a ruse to allow the men to stay. Ida, the last to awaken to the deceit, becomes distressed and falls into the moat, only to suffer further humiliation on being rescued by Prince Hilarion. Hildebrand and his army arrive at Castle Adamant with Gama and sons shackled.
Act III Ida’s maidens prepare to defend the castle. Hildebrand’s prepares his army. Gama laments his state. Hilarion and friends are held against their will. Can the virile youths woo the hearts of hardened feminists? Can the women defend Castle Adamant from the storm of male invaders? Will Ida yield in order to free her father and brothers? Will Gama regret and revise his grumbltonian manner? Will the educated women and the arrogant invading males succumb to the sway of love? The final denouement will tell.
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