SIX The Musical first played at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2017 and has since conquered the world. The empowering pop musical resurrects a chorus of Henry VIII’s wives so we can get their perspectives on being divorced, beheaded or surviving. It was written by Lucy Moss and Toby Marlow while they were studying for their finals at Cambridge. At least six productions of SIX are currently making their way around the world, from New Zealand to China, as well as extended runs on the West End and Broadway.
This week, a filmed version hits cinemas. Aimie Atkinson originated the role of Catherine Howard on the West End, appears in the film version and performs the show’s most powerful and timely track, “All You Wanna Do”. Here, she tells us more about the one-of-a-kind historemix.
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A reintroduction to Catherine Howard
AIMIE ATKINSON: Catherine Howard was Henry VIII’s fifth wife. In school when I was learning about the Tudors I specifically remember reading about Catherine Howard and noticing how small the paragraph about her was in the textbook. It said something like, ‘She was the youngest queen of Henry VIII and was very promiscuous,’ or words to that effect, and honestly that was about it. The briefness of it stayed with me. Of course, looking with a modern lens you can now see how this young girl was thrust into this heavily male dominated world not of her choosing and sadly was abused and ultimately lost her life because of it. In SIX we really get a chance to hear her story from her side, written by Lucy and Toby with so much grace and care.
‘All You Wanna Do’
AA:SIX is an absolute joy to perform. To be on stage with my five other queens who are now like my family is a memory I will always treasure. The show being only 75 minutes long would make people think it wouldn’t be as hard as it is, but let me tell you it is an intense workout, not only on your body, because you don’t stop dancing, but also vocally and mentally.
“All You Wanna Do” is nearly eight minutes long and you go on such a journey with it. We call it ‘the train’ because once you got on there’s no getting off until the confetti falls.
I was so lucky to have a song that on the outside can seem like just an upbeat pop song. It’s got an amazing beat, the language is full of innuendos and Catherine Howard as a character is witty and sharp and super funny. The audience gets lulled into a false sense of security, carried away by the upbeat vibe and the fun of her personality. However, as the song progresses you suddenly realise that there is a much darker undertone that this young girl has been taken advantage of and used. She’s trapped and can’t escape this world orchestrated by powerful men. This is something that has never gone away and is still prevalent today.
