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Six (Underbelly Bristo Square) Verdict: A right Royal romp
This musical about henry Viii’s six wives already has a head start on most productions in Edinburgh. Firstly, it has the good will it earned as a tiny, word of mouth student success at last year’s Fringe. secondly, Lucy Moss and Toby Marlow’s musical has now been given a full professional makeover, and major backing, ahead of transferring to London’s West End and a UK tour that will take in Glasgow.
‘Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived.’ so runs the tagline for what is a pulsating heny Viii ex-wives club, history lesson/pop concert, re-mix mash up, complete with all-female backing band.
Trust me, if you can’t wait for the spice Girls reunion, this is pretty much the next best thing – only funnier and bursting at the corset with 21st century youthful sass and attitude, with the Queens of the throne age performing as a girl band called six, all of them Tudor roses with thorns, bearing grudges, and out to cast a little ‘her’-story perspective on events surrounding them and their circumstances.
This they do in a series of vigorously performed potted biography ballads, raps, and riffs ‘to ripple your ruffs’ from an excellent cast that sees each in turn set out to stake their claim to the title of most hard-done by consort.
The show’s narrative drive may not be its strongest suit, but it packs an energetic, crowd grabbing punch, with standing ovations all round on the night i caught the show.
The Lady Gaga-esque number haus of holbein is a day-glo techno rave treat, only outdone by ‘that Boleyn Girl’, part harley Quinn/part Lily Allen, performing Don’t Lose Ur head.
Elsewhere, we are treated to a power ballad from Jane seymour, and Catherine howard bemoaning her lot as sex object plaything for powerful men. ‘Different time back time,’ she pauses to say, tongue-in-cheek, while Anne of Cleves is given a Destiny’s Child vibe here in more ways than one. Fun, vibrant and with just the right amount of ‘yoof speak’ sprinklings throughout to make this a very modern history lesson (apparently henry didn’t like Anne of Cleves’s ‘profile picture’), there’s also an on-trend sisterhood edge to it about the women banding together to claim an identity for themselves beyond being just one of henry’s wives, and how they got unfriended’.
All in all, the joy of six is a great excuse to get down and party like it’s 1499.
Underbelly Bristo Square, until Aug 27