Edited by: Ajitesh Vishwanath
Last week I walked into the Black Box with the general notion that musicals and history are beyond the scope of my understanding. About one and a half hours later, I was proven wrong. SIX, is a funny, witty and powerful…history lesson. It is a musical journey back to 1509 and introduces us to the wives(six in total) of King Henry the VIII:Katherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour,Anne of Cleves ,Catherine Howard and Katherine Parr. Each extremely talented and with a complicated life story. These risen from the dead queens take the stage with a pop-girl performance contest, to see who will be the group leader. The performance? Their stories. Nasty stories of divorces, beheadings and betrayals are performed. More aptly, stories of being neglected, moulded and retold in HIStory. Without really taking HERstory into account. Now, they come together, to claim their rightful place in our ideas about the past and in our hearts. What can one then do but listen?
The musical begins with a competition. Each glorious queen steps forth to tell her story.With elaborate dances, songs and props. Towards the end of the performances, the six wives, hostile and contemplating who’s the most ill-treated and miserable, quickly realise they have a lot more in common than they assumed. The musical then ends with a very wholesome celebration of sisterhood. All together, it feels magical and sparkly and like a little sprinkled confetti on a lazy Sunday.Â
SIX was extremely impactful for several reasons. First, I went to watch it with my friends and it felt like we were all 13 again, vibing to the very catchy songs. For times that we got too immersed into our own loom band making era, the jokes, tailored to the Ashokan audience would bring us back. I think that is also what made it hit so close to home. What I particularly admire about the performers, is that it simply had six main characters and all of them remained on the stage throughout. Even with that, it did not feel boring for a second and they retained their energy till the very end. The music lay on a spectrum of pop, funny and soft. Yet, it fell in natural succession. This left me truly in awe of the directors. At the curtain call, the sheer magnitude of people involved in pulling off the show very beautifully tied in the unity message of the Six queens.Â
Even with all the glamour and light-heartedness, the pulse of the musical is not lost. It shone quite brightly, like all the stars on the stage. I wonder the ways in which their narratives and contributions have helped shape our present. On a larger level, the musical leaves one wondering , how easily the life accounts of so many women both common and in command fade away from records and textbooks. It makes me think of women who were wronged, ignored, judged or stolen from several times in the past. Their pain , their tenacity, reverberates through the performers as they sing. Six is a poignant reminder that aside from all the fun and frolic, their stories matter. And so they take on the stage, in their beautiful attires and golden crowns. They express themselves through their art. They tell us that we are all better off moving forward together rather than competing because like it or not, we are all in the same boat. Because like it or not, for five more minutes they are SIX.Â