Six (Teen Edition), Kristian Thomas Company Review
Reviewed by Emmie for Theatre and Tonic.
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review.
There’s no stopping the young talent that oozes from the doors of Kristian Thomas Company who are performing Six (Teen Edition) with as much passion as you’d expect from this Derbyshire-based collective. Originating as a student production at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2017 by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, Six has become a global phenomenon with productions taking place in London’s West End, on a UK tour and subsequent international tours too! This is a musical that has inspired a generation and now this Teen Edition enables that fundamental journey to continue, modified for family audiences to enjoy.
The young company bursts onto the stage in this unforgettable production which fuses history, empowerment, and electrifying pop tunes; all set against the backdrop of Tudor England. The Teen Edition has all of the songs from the original version, but with reimagined lines and lyrics to minimize suggestive language. For those not aware of the premise of this show, Six introduces audiences to the six ill-fated wives of King Henry VIII, each reclaiming her narrative with sass, style, and a modern twist.
Produced by Kristian Cunningham and Katie Lawson, this performance has an outstanding professional quality to it, with all of the details covered to deliver a fantastic take on this popular musical. The six young women are a fierce collective of strong performers, helped by the casting assistant Millie O’Connell who played Anne Boleyn in the 2019 West End production of Six.
From the fierce and fiery Anne Boleyn (played by Nadia Potter) who has come on leaps and bounds since seeing her perform in the company’s production of Spring Awakening) with this infectious energy that draws you to her immediately to the soft but almighty torment of Jane Seymour (Hannah Pettit) who is magnetic in her rendition of ‘Heart of Stone’. You can see how this young lady has dug deep to unearth more acting into the presentation of the song and it hits the nail on the head. There isn’t an ounce of power lost in this group. Lerato Thamaga really gets the show underway with her rendition of ‘No Way’ as the introspective and regal Catherine of Aragon. Amy Shelmerdine seems a little bit nervous initially as Anne of Cleeves but once she’s able to perform her solo number ‘Get Down’ we see her talent really shine. Francesca Foster presents the spirited Katherine Howard with heart but is also able to unearth her tumultuous relationships and challenges through her song ‘All You Wanna Do’. Although she’s the final queen to perform, Sylvie Cole (who recently astounded me with her performance as Jamie’s mum in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie) is the perfect casting for Catherine Parr. She has a sensational voice and aura about her that makes her captivating to watch. These 6 young women sustained their characters throughout the performance, barely coming up for breath in the 70 minutes we watched them perform. It may be the last time we see some of these inspiring young performers perform in this local venue as they’ll be heading off to training after the summer but it surely won’t be the last time we see their names in cast announcements let me tell you!
Another level of this Six (Teen Edition) that I particularly enjoyed was the addition of an ensemble in some of the musical numbers. Our 6 females delivered gorgeous choreography (assuming from Kristian Cunningham himself) throughout and will certainly get tighter with their formations as the run continues. Our ensemble was formed of Charlotte Diggle, Holly Greaves, Katie Freer, Laila Cook, Macie Barrington and Sophie Ross.
Collectively this is another exceptionally strong performance from the Kristian Thomas Company again, with more productions planned for the rest of 2024 if you haven’t seen what this company can do - book a ticket. I always leave the theatre feeling inspired by these young performers and with the hope that the future of our industry is bright because the professionalism and quality that you witness are flawless.
The run of Six (Teen Edition) is sold out but do keep an eye on their website if you want to snap up a last-minute chance to see this show for yourself!
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
