“Six: Electric, fast-paced, and hilarious.”
That’s how senior Emily Six describes the show that marked her directorial debut. This show showcases an entertaining and refreshing look of history from a feminist perspective. As the six wives of King Henry VIII showcase they are so much more than that fact.
Throughout the six solos and three ensembles, “Six” takes a look at how we often erase the female side of history, and how we often boil these 6 complicated and fascinating figures in history as 6 misogynistic stereotypes, and how we view history through a biased perspective coming from King Henry VIII. As six the musical reexamines these characters as more then the role they had in the life of King Henry VIII
For example looking at Queen Katherine Horward she has often been boiled as a Flirty Ignorant Teen, but in her solo “All You Wanna Do.” It paints a much darker, sadder picture. As it becomes clear the she was just a teen who was taken advantage of by much older men in a position of power. This is also done for the other queens in their solos. For a more positive rewrite look at Anne of Cleaves. Who you would initially think would be the most distraught of all of them for being reject for there looks. But in her Solo “Get Down” you realize it is the opposite case as you realize she had a much better life then she would’ve with King Henry VIII.
It also addresses an important facet of womanhood. As Emily Six, the director of Six the Musical, said “ A lot of women compete with each other to be at the top. It breaks my heart to see women tear each other down in the name of success.”
as in the speech by Catherin Parr, she addresses the women competing with each other and how that takes focus off of the terrible men in their lives.
This is epitomized by the all female cast as Emily Six added “This show deals with many important women’s issues, it was important that we all came into the show with the mindset of representing and honoring as many women as we could.”
Six the musical is a fun and important show that touches on a lot of the issues with modern day woman hood. In a fun format and historical context, And is a much watch for those who wish to understand history from a new feminist perspective.
