WithWOW What’s On WalesOnline
SIX Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff ★★★★★
She was given the “blue room” which looked over the gardens, but it’s said she spotted a ghostly figure twice during her stay.
The figure, who was a monk, was described as looking “serene and happy,” though the family never gave that room to anyone again.
High Street, Caerleon.
This one isn’t exactly a series of hauntings, but here is a tale to tell about St Woolos Cathedral.
The cathedral’s founder was St Gwynllyw (which, in a corrupted translation becomes St Woolos).
He was a wealthy Welsh king, known for his warrior ways and excessive drinking. However, he was said to have found God and changed his ways.
He built a church (St Woolos cathedral) and was said to have been told by an angel in dream where to build it; using an ox as a sign.
Before he died, it’s claimed that St Gwynllyw put a curse on the church – to protect it from thefts and desecration.
Now this is where the ghostly aspect comes into play.
Around a year after his death, pirates stole precious items from the church, and while they were leaving down the Bristol Channel, the spirit of St Gwynllyw is said to have appeared, took back the items and the pirates’ ship was then caught in a storm.
Stow Hill.
Another of Newport’s old pubs, that’s full of charm and history.
It’s said that a ghostly figure of a woman has been spotted in the top floor window, while a man dressed in 1940s clothing and a trilby hat is said to have been spotted a few times in the bar.
However, none of this has been experienced by the staff.
Murenger, High Street,
Newport.
This one is fairly straightforward. The massive Roman site in Caerleon, is said to have the ghosts of Roman soldiers marching through it.
One man also claims that he heard someone speaking Latin behind him but when he turned there was no one there.
It’s claimed the spectre said the words “sin, dex” which translates into “left, right”.
Cold Bath Road, Caerleon.
St Woolos Cathedral,
There used to be a workhouse on Stow Hill, along with a vagrants’ shelter and a children’s home.
In more recent times, residents in the area are said to have heard children calling out on a number of occasions.
Stow Hill, Newport.
WHEN we look back at the greatest musicals of our times it sometimes seems the more bizarre the plot, the better.
Talking cats, witches fighting over ruby slippers and an angry, masked phantom who verges on stalking, have all proved that musicals will lend themselves to all kinds of stories and SIX is no different.
“Remember me from your GCSEs?” opens Catherine of Aragon to a roar of laughter because it’s a story we’ve been told time and time again. Henry the VIII and his six wives have held a place in British history for centuries and although we were never taught about taxes or about politics, you can surely bet that most of us still remember - divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived.
But in this remake, that started out as a student project at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the women vow to tell their own stories and have their voices heard rather than be ‘one line of a stupid rhyme.’
Running for only 75 minutes each wife tells the tale of their ultimately doomed marriage to the king, with an abundance of individual character, comedic lines and more riffs and stratospheric notes than Mariah.
Catherine of Aragon’s (Lauren Drew) Welsh accent shouldn’t work but just adds to her intrigue and charm and some of the top notes she hit during her solo of ‘No Way’ were other-worldly.
Anne Boleyn (Maddison Bulleyment) was next up with a Lily Allen-esque proclamation about how misunderstood she was in ‘Don’t lose your head,’ and Jane Seymour (Lauren Byrne) offered the audience a rare pause from the theatrics with the touching ballad ‘Heart of Stone’ which showcased her stunning vocals.
But along with the three other queens Anne of Cleves (Shekinah McFarlane), Katherine Howard (Jodie Steele) and Catherine Parr (Athena Collins), the women’s voices remain flawless and their energy infectious which can’t be an easy feat as they offered no pause, being on stage for the whole 75 minutes.
All in all, I have never seen anything quite like SIX, its pop girlband feel felt more like watching a concert than a history lesson and its feminist edge feels perfect for the time.
And although silly at times, it leaves us with important questions about why women are ignored from history and why these women are only famous for being married to a king.
Catherine Parr, however, raises the question “Or is he only famous because he was married to the six of us?”
With that in mind, the finale ‘Six’ draws the production to an electric close and leaves the audience with not just a ringing in their ears but an energy you usually only feel after drinking three espressos and a satisfying sense of female empowerment.
8. THE CURSE OF ST WOOLOS CATHEDRAL
9. MURENGER
10. CAERLEON ROMAN AMPHITHEATRE
11. FORMER WORKHOUSE, STOW HILL
■