SIX (Teen Edition), Spenborough Amateur Youth Society Review
Reviewed by Joseph for Theatre and Tonic.
*Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review
The venue was stunning, St Luke’s Parish Church provided the perfect setting for a show that unsurprisingly has religious undertones and themes. A real stained-glass window was the ideal centerpiece with wonderful technical additions, minimal but effective. An impressive use of the small chapel within the church itself allowed the chorus to shine.
Now we get to the stars, the six wives. Every single performer excelled in their role. Showcasing the dynamic that each wife has, and how they see their journey to that point, whilst also understanding their role within the whole show. Ironically, no one tried to take centre stage within the show, letting the brilliant writing do the work and doing what they did best, performing their hearts out. Aragon (played by Lucy Keyworth) was portrayed how you would expect, entitled as his first wife, and abandoned for Anne Boleyn…spoilers…Anne however (played by Emily Balmforth) was young, clearly immature, and also was subject to the double standards of a patriarchal society, which I won’t diminish to being “of its time” as it still happens today. Jane Seymour (played by Mary Collins) has a job and a half to bring the story to an emotional crescendo, but as all her co-stars have done, she expertly nailed her solo, “Heart of Stone” humanising her and helping the audience to see the other side of Henry VIII’s story. Following Seymour’s death, again if this is a spoiler, try Wikipedia. Anne of Cleves ( played by Olivia-Rose Merryweather) enters with an energy to bring us right back. The music here is such a drastic change from the previous one that it's like a palate cleanser helping us to digest the rest of the show. Her energy is to be admired, it is a tough thing to replicate on stage and she should be very proud of her ability to do this. K Howard (played by Emilya Owen-Herrera) is a difficult one to pitch correctly. She can be done in such a way that she is off-putting to the audience, arrogant, self-involved, and outright argumentative, it’s a tightrope to walk on, however, it was done very well without losing an ounce of her charm and charisma. Very well done. Finally, we have Catherine Parr (played by Evie Robbins) she surprised me, normally Seymour is the emotional heart of the story, pun intended. However, it was performed with such delicacy and nuance that I felt how she had been affected, even more than the rest.
By the end, everyone was on their feet celebrating these queens for who they were and not what their trauma was, and it was elating. In a room full of women of all ages it was wonderful to be a part of s show that not only acknowledges the struggles that women face, not just then but today, and allows us to show them that we can fight against it was very powerful.
The tech, choreography, and direction were on point, as were all the chorus members who did what perfect chorus performers do, which is to give 110%, it was appreciated at the back where we were.
Well done to everyone involved. If this is the future for local theatre, it is an exciting time we are in!
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
