Six

Framed as a pop concert, the six women who were married to England's King Henry VIII, Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anna of Cleves, Katherine Howard, and Catherine Parr, take turns telling their own versions of their lives and marriages, competing to decide who had it worst. Each queen gets a chance to perform her story in a musical style suited to her personality, using history mostly as a jumping-off point for pop songs about identity and being remembered only in relation to a husband. As the competition continues, the women begin questioning the whole premise of ranking their suffering against one another.

Six was written by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, originally created for the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival while the pair were still students. It transferred to the West End and then Broadway, opening in 2021, and won the Tony Award for best original score.

Each queen gets her own solo pop number in a different contemporary style, from R&B to modern pop and ballad styles, all backed by an all-female onstage band. The show plays like a real pop concert, with direct addresses to the audience and driving group numbers between the solos. There is no traditional set or scene changes, so the personalities and vocal performances of the six queens carry the whole evening. It suits pop music fans, history buffs looking for a fresh angle, and audiences who want something short, loud, and fun.