REVIEW: SIX AT THE THEATRE ROYAL, SYDNEY

Queendom: six of the best, with their take on herstory. Photos: James D Morgan/Getty Images

Did Henry VIII’s wives ever have this much fun? I shouldn’t think so. Being married to that particular tyrant was never going to be easy! SIX is back in Sydney and giving voice (and what spectacular voices they are) to the six women who married that Tudor king 500 years ago. In this 80-minute long version of history (now labelled herstory), the wives get to tell it their way. It may not be 100 per cent factual (although the writers give a very fair nod to what happened to those unfortunate brides) but this pop-tech Tudor court concert is heaps of fun. It’s short, sharp and shiny!

After rocking out ‘Ex-Wives’, the opening number, with a fine band at their backs, Katherine of Aragon (Sarah Murr) has the first of the solo shots, which is as it should be since she was Henry’s first and loyal bride for 24 years until, desperate for an heir (and to get Anne Boleyn into bed), he turned the kingdom upside down, changed its religion, declared himself divorced and… sired another daughter! Murr/Aragon’s ‘I’m Not Going Away, There’s No Way’ lyrics sum it all up!

Likewise, Anne Boleyn’s ‘I’m Sorry, Not Sorry ’bout What I Said’ lyrics in ‘Don’t Lose Ur Head’ are totally apt, with Mia Paris Scalise as the smart and sassy Anne. (‘What hurts more than a broken heart? A severed head.’)

In case you were wondering, all the lyrics are original to the show – how could it be otherwise? – and penned by the show’s creators, Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss.

Next up – and we go in chronological order here, along the well-known ‘Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived’ route – is Cara Bessey as Jane Seymour. And does that woman have a voice! Her lament for Henry (they want us to believe she loved him), ‘You Can Build Me Up, You Can Tear Me Down’ is spine-tingling. (But, sorry, not sorry, I don’t believe Jane Seymour loved Henry. I think she (like at least five of the wives) was a victim of circumstance (in this case Seymour family pressure and, of course, Henry’s roving eye). I am giving Anne Boleyn benefit of the doubt in the ‘did she love him’ stakes – her letters to him have been lost to history, so we will never know. Anyway, just saying. None of this detracts from six fabulous performances, and sisters telling it for themselves.)

Kadesa Honeyhill, as Anna of Cleves came out on top in the Tudor wives’ lottery. Henry, by now a fat and smelly 40-something, decided she wasn’t pretty enough – and so Anne ended up divorced as his ‘beloved sister’ (it averted a potential diplomatic disaster) and scored a number of properties, including Richmond Castle to live in happily ever after. Go, Anna! And Honeyhill certainly does. All the costumes, courtesy of Gabriella Slade, pay some homage to Tudor detail but Honeyhill’s red and black, studded and high-booted ‘court dress’ (inspired the creators say by Nicki Minaj and Rihanna) is wonderfully OTT. As is Honeyhill, the absolute ‘Queen of the Castle’ when she belts out ‘Get Down [You Dirty Rascal]’.

Angela Brischetto is the unfortunate Catherine Howard, who also lost her head. Barely 17 when she was foisted on Henry, she was no innocent, but it was family ambition (Howards, this time) that flung her into Henry’s path – and ultimately the block. And last but not least, neither in the pecking order nor in the performances, is Lorinda May Merrypor as Catherine Parr with ‘I Don’t Need Your Love’. Parr certainly didn’t, she wanted to marry someone else, but no one could say no to Big Henry. She almost fell foul of him, too, but managed to get to him before her enemies did!

Also on stage throughout SIX is the band: Claire Healy (music director and keys); Heidi Maguire (assistant music director and keys); Kathryn Stammers (drums); Danielle Colligan (guitar); and Matilda Yang (base)

Moss and Jamie Armitage take the overall directing credits, but associate director for this Australian production is Sharon Millerchip. Lighting and sound, so integral to a great musical, are by Tim Deiling and Paul Gatehouse; the slick choreography is by Carrie-Anne Ingrouille; and set design by Emma Bailey.

SIX has enjoyed such success around the world and won 38 international awards, including two Tony Awards, since it first hit the stage at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2017. There was even a flash mob event at the Tower of London in 2019, with the London cast and hundreds of fans. I’d like to have seen that, too.