Six
Liverpool Playhouse
Starting life as a student show at the Edinburgh Fringe, Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss have created a cultural phenomenon that does for Tudor history what Hamilton has done for American history. Detailing - in a loose sense - how history has reduced the six wives of Henry VIII to a rhyme, Six delves into the life of each wife in a Horrible Histories meets The X Factor sassy pop-rock concert.
During the 75 minute musical, the wives tell their individual story in a bid to work out who suffered the most at the hands of Henry VIII, and should therefore become the leader of the girl band that they have created. The topics of the wives songs range from childbirth, unwanted sexual advances, forced marriages, and of course death. Almost every musical genre is covered, from R&B, big power ballads, and pop.
There is no denying that the songs are infectious, even with their heavy topics, or that this is a high energy show, but that’s all there is. The storyline is shallow at best and feels as though Marlow and Moss couldn’t work out how to actually work the songs into a full musical. If this was an early mix-tape of the songs (as Lin-Manuel Miranda did with early versions of Hamilton), or a preview of a show, then we’d be saying that this would be transformed into an amazing piece of theatre. Instead, the entire show feels lacking.
Arguably, the biggest injustice of the piece is the desperate attempt to be a feminist movement whilst simultaneously setting each wife against one another, with lyrics like “I think we can all agree, I’m a 10 amongst these 3’s”. Girl Power, but only if you’ve first dragged each other down, and female empowerment, but only if you conform to a certain beauty standard. The entire feminist angle feels incredibly superficial and a token gesture.
Having said that, we did enjoy the show. Despite what you might think reading this review, songs from Six will stay on our musicals playlist because they are good songs. The mash-up of German techno and Oktoberfest band for ‘Haus of Holbein’ is inspired, whilst ‘Don’t Lose Ur Head’ channelling more than a little of Catherine Tate’s “Am I Bovvered” Lauren Cooper will always raise a smile.
The cast and musicians (referred to as the Ladies in Waiting) all delivered excellent performances; Leesa Tulley as Katherine Howard and Jessica Niles as Anne of Cleves were particularly polished in their portrayals, whilst Chloe Hart as Catherine of Aragon and Jennifer Caldwell as Anne Boleyn felt like a true rivalry for Henry’s love. Casey Al-Shaqsy as Jane Seymour gave one of the most powerful performances of ‘Heart of Stone’ that we have ever seen, resulting in more than a few tears being shed. Finally, Alana M Robinson as Catherine Parr was a beautiful and poignant end to the solo songs.
The costumes designed by Gabriella Slade are spectacular, with each wife given a distinct colour scheme. We’ve seen many performances of songs from Six on TV shows, so we knew the costumes were good, but under the stage lights they looked even better than we imagined. Definitely costumes fit for royalty!
This is an inventive show filled with catchy songs, and it is a show we would watch again, but this is a concert of songs inspired by the wives of Henry VIII rather than a musical with a full story and plot. Provided you don’t try to follow a storyline, and instead just enjoy the banter in between songs (“You might remember us from your GCSEs”) then this is a fabulous way to spend an evening. But with such a shallow plot, a higher star rating would be lip service.
Six is on at the Liverpool Playhouse until 8 January 2023.
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