Gareth's Culture and Travel Blog

This audacious musical / pop concert, subtitled Divorced * Beheaded * Live!, puts Henry VIII’s six wives into a contemporary girl group, individually telling their story in song, competing for who had the hardest time, and together commenting on their common ground, and it’s huge fun, this week’s second breath of fresh air for the West End.

Toby Marlow & Lucy Moss’ show has some of the catchiest tunes you’ll hear on a theatre stage, and clever lyrics too. Though there is dialogue between songs, much direct to the audience, the story is largely told through music by the six sassy, bitchy girl power Queens, backed by a cracking all-girl rock band. The excellent costumes and lighting – Gabriella Slade & Tim Deiling respectively – both have a girl band aesthetic, and the audience were cheering and whooping as if they were at a pop concert rather than a musical.The six performers – Jarmeia Richard-Noel, Millie O’Connell, Natalie Paris, Alexia McIntosh, Aimie Atkinson & Maiya Quanasah-Breed – give the wives their individuality in uniformly great performances, and Katie Richardson’s band – the Ladies in Waiting – are great too. Jamie Armitage co-directs a playful production with writer Lucy Moss.

It shouldn’t really work, I’m hardly the target audience and you wouldn’t think it’s my thing, but I loved it!