Six (Teen Edition)

If you want to know how good Castle Newnham School’s theatre company 4SIXTEEN really are, ask their box office. First of all, eliminate the adoring parent, grandparent, sibling audience you would expect of a large cast school production by putting on a show with a cast of just six and then, sell out your entire three public performance run in just 36 hours! Audiences clearly clammer to see shows by this group knowing they are coming to see top quality productions. And that is exactly what they get!

I should admit first of all that I’ve not seen this show before, full or teen version, so I was greatly intrigued as to what to expect. "Six" is a British pop musical written by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss while they were studying for their final exams at Cambridge University. Done entirely in modern dress, it tells the stories of the six wives of Henry VIII, as they compete to decide who will lead the group based on how much they suffered while married to Henry.

The teen version only became available in April 2022 for schools to perform, so well done 4SIXTEEN for snapping it up straight away! Clever move! It uses only six actresses, as the six wives, no interval and runs for just over the hour.

The set was simply the floor of their excellent drama studio with tiered seating on 3 sides and the band positioned on an elevated section to the rear of the actors.  The excellent band was made up of, Jack Serino, Piano/ Keyboard, Bethany Rodgers, Bass Guitar, Emily Green, Guitar and Oscar Galey, Drums, with Bethany Lee as Technical Support. Jack Serino and Emily Green were also the musical directors. Sadly, Oscar Galey wasn’t able to perform, but all his work had been pre-recorded and was very skilfully sequenced into the live performance.

Ben Cronin, a year 10 pupil, clearly on an upward career trajectory as a lighting designer, was given some new toys to play with in the form of 6 intelligent lights, positioned on the floor at the rear of the stage, which were used to great effect and once again helped to move the show up a gear in overall effect.

The costumes by Emma Murphy definitely deserve a mention in their own right. This was designer fashion power dressing on steroids for teenagers, a selection of colours, shapes and patterns that made each actress individually stand out, clearly defining their individual characters. Their makeup (uncredited) was perfectly blended with the costumes, with eye make-up matching and complimenting the stunning costumes. Eye for detail on a professional level.  As soon as they came on stage just from the costumes alone you knew these girls meant business.

Director Luke Skeel clearly didn’t mess about when casting this show, he simply went for the best available from the entire school, casting across the spectrum of years eight to eleven. And each brought something outstanding to the party across all of the three disciplines, singing, dancing and acting. Charlie Menelas as Catherine of Aragon, Daisy Loft as Anne Boleyn, Sami Clements as Jane Seymore, Darcey Murphy as Anne of Cleves, Ava Kelly as Katherine Howard and Verity Edmonds as Catherine Parr, all have experienced CV’s and that showed as they gelled together as a unit perfectly. A great example of how this school’s theatre company has grown in reputation over a few short years. The confidence, stage presence, total awareness of each other and their control of the audience was absolutely outstanding and couldn’t be faulted. This was particularly highlighted by Tara Hutchings’ and Letitia Bonson’s choreography which really was on a different level. The synchronisation of body and hand movement was particularly impressive.

Sadly, there is a downside and that I’m afraid was sound. Despite the fact that each actress was individually miced up, I spent quite long periods not really hearing either the dialog or the lyrics, which was a real shame as the actresses were doing everything right as far as I could see. It could be the room itself, or a volume imbalance between voices and instruments, the deadening effect of the presence of the audience, or it may in part be down to my advancing years, but other younger members of the audience were also clearly struggling. I can’t offer a solution but, as I’ve mentioned this in previous show reviews, it’s a problem that is still looking to be solved.

That said, my congratulations to all involved, this was a showpiece production by a group at the top of its game, of whom the local community, parents, pupils and staff can be very proud.  I have only one more thing to say – follow that! And, I have every confidence they will!

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.