FESTIVAL THEATRE, EDINBURGH – UNTIL MARCH 26th
REVIEWED BY RACHEL FARRIER
5*****
Six began life as a student show at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2017, and returns to the city this week for a 10 day run at the Festival Theatre, having conquered Broadway and the West End in between.
And what a show it is – telling the stories of Henry VIII’s six wives, if I could give it six stars (one for each of the cast of Queens) then I would. This is a sassy, exuberant, incredibly clever, sexy, witty, funny and sometimes unexpectedly poignant musical, with brilliant tunes that match each character and story perfectly. The underlying feminist battle cry of women who are ‘just in some rhyme’ trying to reclaim their own histories (or HERstories, as they point out) is never heavy but nevertheless by the culmination of the show, the audience has learned a lot about the background and (often horrific) experiences of the Queens, before they reached their demises (‘divorced, beheaded, survived..’).
As they sing towards the end of the show, many of the stories contain what we would now recognise as trauma and abuse, and it is incredibly skilful writing that this is acknowledged and sung about, whilst maintaining a (dark) sense of humour that keeps the show moving.
All six of the actors were outstanding in their own way – Chloe Hart as Katherine of Aragon is the first Queen to tell her story and immediately captivated the audience, although we didn’t need much encouragement – clearly a lot of the audience were already familiar with the show and there was clapping and cheering in anticipation even before the curtain went up. All six possessed stunning voices and rightly all received prolonged applause after each of their ‘turns’.
Another brilliant aspect of the show is that the all-women band are also on stage throughout the show and are incorporated throughout. The costumes themselves deserve a mention in their own right – a dazzling cross between the styles of the tudor period and maybe the Spice Girls (showing my age here..), they marry perfectly with the whole tone of the show. My personal favourite song ‘Haus of Holbein‘ – which manages to be clever, informative and also hilarious – is brilliantly augmented by the addition of luminous accessories which brings in a raucous clubbing vibe.
Although I had imagined the demographic of the audience might be mostly young women and perhaps their mums, there was actually a very mixed crowd present last night and the standing ovation at the end demonstrated that it had been enjoyed by one and all.
If you can possibly get tickets for this show, GO, and take your friends – it is an absolute treat.