Six: The Musical, Vaudeville Theatre review ★★★★★

Divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived – or rather, live on stage: the six wives of Henry VIII are fed up of being ‘just one word in a stupid rhyme’. In Six: The Musical, they tell their own stories through the medium of feisty pop songs – while the king who dominates the history books, as he did their lives, is gloriously absent.

The short, tight, 75-minute musical sees each former wife step into the spotlight to sing her story, with plenty of sass and even some twerking. It's upbeat and feminist, with no dud numbers along the way, and all the more remarkably so for having been written by undergrad students at Cambridge University – more on them later.


Dionne Ward-Anderson as Anna of Cleves and the cast of Six the Musical. Photo: Pamela Raith

Now, the crowns of its queens have been passed to a new cast – a terrific sextuplet – who breathe fresh energy into the vivacious show. While singling out performances from this exceptional ensemble feels a bit like leaning into the sob story sparring that dominates the first three-quarters of the show, which the wives eventually move away from in a bid to unite against their oppressor, your eyes will naturally follow Dionne Ward-Anderson's powerhouse performance as an Anna of Cleves with Beyoncé energy. She's one to watch, but let's hope no shiny offers lure her away from the production too soon.


Baylie Carson as Anne Boleyn and the cast of Six the Musical. Photo: Pamela Raith

Six started life in 2017 as a student production at the Edinburgh Fringe. The brainchild of two Cambridge University students, Lucy Moss and Toby Marlow, the show garnered five-star reviews before having its professional debut in London in the autumn of that year, touring the country and eventually landing a spot on the West End. At the same time, Marlow and Moss were respectively starring in and directing the five-star musical 'extravaGAYnza' Hot Gay Time Machine – and their careers show no sign of slowing down.

This 'her-story' lesson, or 'histo-remix', should be essential viewing for teens studying the Tudors, but its infectious energy, catchy songs and message of girl power will charm all theatregoers again and again.