Know Your Herstory: Six at Nuffield Theatre, Southampton (NST Campus)

It’s been difficult to get away from Six ever since its roof-raising run at the Arts Theatre earlier this year (it’s due to return for an almost unheard of open-ended run in 2019). It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen theatre twitter get so excited over a musical, and when you follow as many blogs as I do, it’s difficult to find anyone who hasn’t at some point this year tweeted the immortal phrase “Everybody chill/it’s totes God’s will.”

Six, it seems, has become the surprise smash of 2018. It’s seventy five minutes long (we stan a straight-through-no-interval queen). It has no plot. It has no leading man. And yet. Here we are. In the midst of a UK tour before it bounces back into the West End. And hyped to the high heavens.

“Okay ladies, now let’s get in reformation.”

Writers Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss have based the show on a ‘what if’ – what if Henry VIII’s six wives could all be in the same place at the same time, to air their grievances of being manipulated by the men around them and their mutual ex. They’ve also formed a pop band, because why not, and are competing to be the leader of the band, using their horrible lives as justification (and lyrical content). Each of the six is modeled after a type of modern day diva – the stunningly voiced Natalie Paris as Jane Seymour is a mix of Adele and Sia whilst Millie O’Connell’s delightfully bratty Anne Boleyn is Lily Allen meets Avril Lavigne. Alexia McIntosh (a highlight amongst this exemplary cast) plays a Rhianna/Nicki Minaj-inspired Anna of Cleves that commands attention, and Jarneia Richard-Noel‘s Catherine of Aragon channels the influences of Beyonce and Shakira whilst making the performance her own. This range of styles gives the group an every-woman vibe, and tough as it may be to single any of these amazing performers out, everyone in the audience can pick their favourite.

Each queen is clothed in a neon-tinted-yet-tudor-inspired get up, giving each wife their signature colour (Katherine Howard is pink, Catherine Parr blue, Anne Boleyn is, unsurprisingly, green). The costumes really lend to the girl group vibe – you can very easily imagine Little Mix wearing something similar on their next arena tour. Along with some smart lighting and a finale rain of glitter confetti, the unabashed flamboyance and showiness of Six makes it irresistible.

Yet there’s a cleverness to the piece, not to mention a surprising darkness. Aimie Atkinson as Katherine Howard takes centre stage for her number, All You Wanna Do, which goes from a cheeky, sexy, Britney-inspired number to a semi-hysterical plea for escape so gradually that it catches you unawares. Maiya Quansah-Breed as Catherine Parr, the survivor, points out the ludicrous nature of sob stories, using miscarriages and beheadings to curry audience favour. All six wives fully acknowledge that their fame comes from their husband, and depressingly they will always be defined by him.

But on the plus side, name Henry VIII and a not inconsiderable amount of people will think of his marital status. So as much as the wives are defined and remembered because of their husband, he is, largely, also defined and remembered for the six.

Where did I sit: B19, an accidental front row booking (WHERE IS ROW A, NUFFIELD?!). Don’t book it. What you gain in nearness you lose in having to look ninety degrees to the left for the vast majority of the show. Just don’t do it. Just say no. Seats are comfy though.