Six Teen Edition

No one could have predicted that a musical written and performed by Cambridge students about the six wives of Henry VIII would grow so rapidly to become a worldwide phenomenon. But that is exactly what Six has become. It premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2017, has run in the West End since 2019, opened on Broadway in 2021 and toured extensively ever since. What a coup then for Hayling Youngstars to be first in the area to obtain the rights for the Teen Edition which, having seen the full version several times, seems to be almost identical. It’s a big ask for a youth group to portray Henry’s six wives, each claiming their right to be the best queen, rock-concert style, with no breaks from the stage and no interval. I should have known that Hayling Youngstars was more than up to the challenge, and smash it out of the park they most certainly did!

The stage was set for a rock concert: a platform at the back and a modern lighting rig framing it on all sides. The lighting (by Chris Pratt and Ian Pratt) was spectacular, constantly changing (2000 lighting cues I was told) and generating that spine-tingling feeling of a great concert. Sound (Tom Davison) was excellent too - in this notoriously tricky hall we heard every single word. It was loud enough to feel like a concert but not deafening. Costumes (Emily Harkness) were just perfect – each suited to the character of their queen, and I loved the sparkly covers for the hand mics! Emily Harkness was also the MD for the show (using backing tracks) and had brought each singer’s voice to the peak of perfection for what must have been a really hard sing, with numbers ranging so much in style and very different from a standard musical.

Emily Harkness and Megan Fisher (both former Youngstars) have done a superb job of directing this show and Megan’s clever choreography was the icing on the cake. It was hard to believe that the six girls starring as the queens were aged between 13 and 16, so mature and nuanced were their performances. It would be unfair to single any one of them out: they all contributed equally to this real ensemble piece. Daisy Harkness (Aragon), Isabel Kennard (Boleyn), Hattie Urwin (Seymour), Tilly Petley (Cleves), Brooke Pearce (Howard) and Bali Sherrington (Parr) sang their hearts out, imbued each queen with her own character, and danced and moved to perfection. All of your performances were powerful, faultless and inspiring.

After the rapturous applause and well-deserved standing ovation from the packed first night audience, we left the hall humming the catchy tunes and feeling truly uplifted. What a night! What an experience!

How do I sum up? With apologies for my overuse of the exclamation mark: Sensational! What a show! Direction and choreography were perfect. Lighting was just breath-taking, and sound was crystal-clear. And the Queens? Professional, adult performances from local theatre youngsters. So, so impressive!

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