He tricks poor Milton Millbourne, the Miller, into bragging to King Reginald Rex that his daughter, Roxanne, knows how to spin straw into gold. King Reginald needs gold, and he decides that since the Miller cannot pay his taxes, and the Royal Treasury is quite empty, he will take Roxanne back to the palace and see if she really can do such a thing. It's worth a try, and it's certainly better than waging wars on other kingdoms as a way to raise funds for the country; (Reginald is a very peaceful kind of a King).

Later that night Roxanne is locked into a castle room with a spinning wheel and huge baskets of straw. Then, Rumplestiltskin, who's been feeling guilty about tricking her into this predicament, appears, and offers to spin the gold for her. While he works, he warns her that the King will ask her to spin more straw into gold someday; Kings never have enough gold. Never! And he departs.

Naturally, King Reginald is delighted with the gold, although he had already made up his mind to marry Roxanne, not really caring if she could spin straw into gold or not. They do marry, and a year later a son is born.

Then it's tax time again, and again the treasury is empty. When Reginald begs Roxanne to spin more gold, she reluctantly agrees to try.

Rumplestiltskin appears, offering to spin the straw, but says that he'll name his price after he finishes. In a very dramatic and powerful scene, he hypnotizes Roxanne into saying he may take her baby. She pleads with him to change his mind, but he says he's lonely; he wants a little companion in the forest. Roxanne continues to sob. He weakens and offers her a chance to keep the child; for three nights she must try to guess his name. If she fails, he takes the child.

The entire kingdom turns upside down searching for the little dwarf's name. On the third night, however, the secret is discovered; the baby is saved.

Rumplestiltskin, very disappointed, sadly goes home. Griselda says cheer up; it's supposed to rain tomorrow, and she made frog eyes for supper. This news lightens his mood; as the play ends, he begins to cackle, planning to go back to work on his spells.

Griselda says: "Now that sounds more like the Rumplestiltskin I know. Well, maybe now things can get back to normal around here."

Synopsis courtesy of Classics On Stage!