This weekend we had two very different theatre experiences. On Friday we watched Six at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool. On Saturday we were up at the Theatre by the Lake enjoying The Lakers, more about this later.
Six was a fabulous show; we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The show is a modern retelling of the lives of the six wives of Henry VIII, presented in the form of a pop concert. Each of the wives take turns telling their story, to see who suffered the most from Henry VIII.
The old story Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived takes on new dimensions as each Queen tells her story and competes with her fellow Queens. Until Catherine Parr, the final Queen who survived Henry, questions the point of the competition. Why are they all defining themselves in relation to Henry VIII, rather than as the individual women they are? After much debate, the other Queens realise that they have been robbed of their individuality, abandon the contest and declare that they don't need Henry's love to feel validated as people.
They use the remaining time on stage to rewrite their stories, singing together as a group rather than as solo artists, and writing their own "happily ever afters", had Henry never been involved. The centuries old story becomes Divorced, Beheaded, LIVE.
Even Chris who doesn't enjoy musicals and loathes history, thoroughly enjoyed himself, which must be the biggest accolade of all!