A must-see, unique and outrageously fun musical with catchy pop anthems that will have you listening on repeat for weeks!

Six is the retelling of Tudor history or ‘her-story’ as a lively and sublimely audacious pop concert. The six strong divas are each of Henry VIII’s wives, who previously have been remembered as nothing more than this by history. Each Queen takes a turn singing their song to see who will take the crown as the Queen who suffered most because of Henry VIII.

Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss created the original musical for a slot The Cambridge Musical Theatre Society had at the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe. An original musical was needed as The Cambridge University Musical Theatre Society could not afford the rights to an existing musical and Marlow and Moss were handed the quill. Marlow notes that the idea came as a sudden vision at the back of a poetry class, seeing the six wives as a pop group (and I guess the rest is her-story). Marlow and Moss tied in themes of queerness alongside female empowerment, noticing the dire need historically (and unfortunately somewhat currently) with the lack of diversity in the arts. The queens, the music and stylistic choices blended perfectly and by 2019 Six was on West End and in 2021 the musical hit Broadway. After a brief stint away, The Vaudeville Theatre is Six’s ‘forever home’ on the West End and so this is by no means the last new cast we will see.

The one and only act opens extremely high with all six queens belting the pop anthem ‘Ex-Wives’. All six Queens giving a taster to their incredible voices and vocal ranges, much like the various popstars they are somewhat modelled too. They share their stories chronologically with music, song, wit, sass, and catty comments in abundance.

First, Rhianne-Louise McCaulsky as Catherine of Aragon who hits some jaw dropping high notes. Second, Baylie Carson as Anne Boleyn, utilising Australian flair to great comedic effect. Third, Claudia Kariuki as Jane Seymour who had the difficult task of changing the pace. A beautiful, powerful pop ballad which Kariuki absolutely smashed. Fourth, Dionne Ward-Anderson as Anna of Cleves. Ward-Anderson’s stage presence was undeniable, and each line delivered with such great panache – a real stand-out, for me, among a group of talented stars. Fifth, Koko Basigara as Katherine Howard (or “K Howard”) who was marvellously sassy, flicking her Ariana Grande-esq ponytail across the stage. Sixth, Roxanne Couch as Catherine Parr with incredible vocal control and power, displaying Parr’s maturity and wisdom. Each ‘solo’ backed impeccably with vocals, harmonies, and faultless choreography. The ‘Ladies in Waiting’ or live, on-stage band are note perfect, drive the energy of the high-octane live pop concert and join in with the theatrics. The accompanying lighting and costume design combines all the elements together to create an atmosphere where the audience can easily lose themselves in this seemingly outrageous Tudor pop concert. 

Much like the last paragraph, Six has no interval, which felt slightly odd for a West End production. This is not wrongly so, quite the contrary. The ending is fitting, and its energetic climax is exactly what the show deserves. The slightly shorter runtime if anything gave me the perfect amount of time to listen through the soundtrack and spend a good amount of time researching women who have been somewhat lost to history. Or rather lost to historians’ recollections of history. On a separate note, anyone good at musical scores and interested in Anne Hathaway? By Anne Hathaway I mean, you know “Shakespeare’s wife”…

I toiled over four or five stars for this piece. Concluding that not only had I left the theatre energised, entertained and in awe of an unbelievably talented cast and crew, one of my only criticisms – quite greedily – was that I wanted more. I guess I will just have to go again to get my Six fix. If you haven’t seen this show, or even if you already have, book tickets.