Don’t let the dry subject matter fool you.

Six the musical, written and composed by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, the latter of whom co-directs with Jamie Armitage, is a riot of colour and noise which through witty wordplay, sassy singing and gung-ho girl power gives voice to the “just one word in a stupid rhyme” – aka the “divorced, beheaded, died / divorced, beheaded, survived” wives of Henry VIII – who after recounting how they “got unfriended” in a competitive sing-off à la The X-Factor (or should that be ex- factor?), unite in solidarity against male manipulation by taking back control and removing the stain of his love from their “her-story”.

Backed by the fabulous Ladies In Waiting under the musical direction of keyboardist Katy Richardson, the sexy sextet of Jarneia Richard-Noel, Millie O’Connell, Natalie Paris, Alexia McIntosh, Aimie Atkinson and Maiya Quansah-Breed act, dance and sing with great flair and skill. Each unashamedly hogging the limelight in their respective solos as they beg the audience for their vote in order to claim the “queen of the castle” crown of having endured the greatest hardship. At one point trading insults of who’s had the most miscarriages.

Under the poptastic lights of Tim Deiling and charged with the raunchy choreography of Carrie-Anne Ingrouille, the show, which began life as a student production at the 2017 Edinburgh Festival before catching the eye of several leading producers on its way to a UK tour and West End residency, is not so much a play or a musical but a full-blown concert which given the amount of audience interaction and playful banter cries out for a thrust stage or catwalk rather than the us and them divide of a proscenium arch.

Not that the receptive audience on the opening night at the SEC minded as they rose to their feet to whoop and holler after the defiant “I Don’t Need Your Love” and unifying curtain call “Six”. Just two of nine sassy numbers which fill the 75-minute running time as tight as the dazzling corsets of Gabriella Slade. Though what impresses most are the witty lyrics which are as cutting and fast as a guillotine blade. Such as “Everybody chill / It’s totes God’s will” and “You said that I tricked ya / Cos I didn’t look like my profile pict-cha”. Take a bow, Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss. In the words of Anne of Cleves, “Get Down”.

Peter Callaghan
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