Six The Musical continues at the Festival Theatre, Edinburgh until 8 February 2020, and on tour until 25 July 2020.
Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩
Wow! To be part of an enthusiastic, packed house on a February Tuesday night is quite a buzz – and this is a show that lives up to the hype and expectation. Returning to its birthplace (the show started life with Cambridge University Musical Theatre Society at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2017 where it was nominated for the inaugural Musical Theatre Review Best Musical Award) this is a show that revels in flexing its considerable brava on the big stage with sound, lights, designs and performances to match.
For those not in the know, Six tells the stories of each of those wives of Henry VIII – the English king more famous for his girth and the number of wives he had than anything else he achieved. The premise of the show is that each wife has her shot at gaining the audience’s approval and becoming the ‘best’ wife conveyed as a Queenie-diva-song-contest that only needs an audience clapometer to gauge the response for each pop performance. Think Eurovision – but just with the six wives as contestants.
More than that, from the opening number to the finale, this is a pop song extravaganza delivered by six ultra-talented women, backed by the accomplished band (billed as ‘The Ladies-in -Waiting). This all-female production aims to show ‘Every tudor rose has her thorns’ and does so with utter precision, energy and enthusiasm in a “Tudor pop concert”. Way beyond ‘Greensleeves’ though – this is full-on pop.
Penned by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, this production’s strength lies in retaining its brevity: no superfluous padding or wasted dialogue in the 75-minute performance keeps the production tight and focused. Designed by Emma Bailey (set), Gabriella Slade (costumes) with lighting by Tim Deiling, the show that was first seen here in a cramped conference room in a Grassmarket hotel has spread its wings and flies majestically. This grand scale allows the performances to soar.
In order, we see and hear from Catherine of Aragon (divorced) played by Lauren Drew as a very together, aware, feisty bride; followed by Anne Boleyn (beheaded) rendered in stunning green spangled sleeves by Maddison Bulleyment. Both numbers are high energy, pacey, with precise and expressive choreography (Carrie-Anne Ingrouille).
The pace slows as Lauren Byrne sings her power ballad as the ill-fated Jane Seymour (died) – a song worthy of any X Factor winner! The pace moves to the left field with Shekinah McFarlane’s Anna of Cleves (divorced) which moves us from a Kraftwerk-inspired Haus of Holbein to her becoming Queen of the Castle – a breathtaking passage of narrative and character.
Jodie Steele conveys her naughty Britney-esque Katherine Howard (beheaded) and finally the complex and compelling Catherine Parr (survived) is beautifully sung by Athena Collins – definitely a name to watch out for.
The inevitable mega-mix finale is, for once, genuinely welcome and had the audience on their feet throughout. This is a celebration of women, by women – for everybody. More than one person could be heard on the way home saying they’d look up the history. Good job, everyone – haste ye back!
Fiona Orr
Tickets for the West End production of Six are available HERE.
SHARE THIS POST:
Comments are closed.