SIX The Musical

★★★★☆     Energetic

Festival Theatre: Tue 15 – Sat 26 Sept 2026
Review by Hugh Simpson

SIX The Musical at the Festival Theatre is a lively, noisy entertainment whose popularity shows no sign of abating. And while it continues to be performed with this much skill and spirit, quite right too.

Since first appearing at the Fringe in 2017, the musical by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss has gone on to West End and Broadway success and worldwide tours, as well as returning to Edinburgh several times. Indeed, this particular visit features two different companies, one in the first week who are off to China and one in the second that will carry on touring the UK.

A scene from Six The Musical. Pic: Pamela Raith Photography.

The conceit is an undoubtedly neat one that has spawned several imitators. The well-known six wives of Henry VIII of England (‘divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived’) are assembled as a kind of pop/R&B supergroup. Backed by a four-piece onstage band, the various queens compete in song to see which one had the worst time at the hands of Henry.

To get the possible objections out of the way early – the short length for a big-budget touring show, the lack of any real narrative arc and the overall presentation mean that this comes across as more as a concert than a fully-fledged musical, despite the title’s insistence.

The feeling that this is really a series of musical performances linked by occasional between-song banter is accentuated by the use of hand-held microphones. This isn’t necessarily a drawback, as the format has real appeal. The songs (with witty hints at Beyoncé, Lily Allen, Britney Spears and others) are clever, bright and lively.

impressive moments

The cast (Madison Swann, Izi Maxwell, Laura Dawkes, Hannah Victoria, Lizzie Emery and Eloise Lord) are full of energy and pizzazz, each performing their featured number with skill and drive while adding accomplished backing vocals to each other’s songs.

There are particularly impressive moments, such as Maxwell’s insouciant Anne Boleyn or Victoria’s lively Anna of Cleves, but what stands out overall is the unity of the ensemble, well choreographed by Carrie-Anne Ingrouille.

A scene from Six The Musical. Pic: Pamela Raith Photography.

The band led by MD Yutong Zhang are punchy and suitably loud. Paul Gatehouse’s sound design is clear, aside from the odd moment when the lyrics are difficult to make out. Tim Deiling’s lighting and Emma Bailey’s set are self-contained rather than spectacular but work well. Gabriella Slade’s costumes, with their nods to Larry LeGaspi’s 70s glam-funk work for LaBelle, are extremely striking.

Despite the more modern musical references, there’s something here more reminiscent of 90s bands with an ethos owing much to the ‘girl power’ of the Spice Girls era. There is no doubting the sincerity of the message, however, and the ending, while cheesy and somewhat conventional, is undoubtedly necessary and empowering. Accusations of superficiality and slightness could certainly be levelled at the narrative, but the energy and commitment more than make up for this.

incongruous

Some things about the production hark back even further than the 1990s, with its emphasis on history being entirely about the doings of kings and queens being peculiarly out-of-date – and solely English monarchs at that. You don’t have to be a Scottish nationalist to find something incongruous about a show that gives constant shout-outs about being in Edinburgh telling the audience about ‘their GCSEs’.

With Moss still co-directing along with Jamie Armitage, SIX continues merrily along, and there is no reason to suppose that a completely new cast in the second week will affect the production in any way. Which makes it sound like it’s a soulless exercise in franchising, which is very far from being the case. On the contrary, it’s a vibrant, crowd-pleasing affair.

Running time: One hour and 20 minutes (no interval)
Festival Theatre, 13/29 Nicholson Street, EH8 9FT
Tuesday 15 – Saturday 26 Sept 2026 
Tue – Sat: 8pm (Fridays & Wed 23: 8.30pm). Early eve: Fridays & Wed 23: 6pm: Mats: Sat: 4pm; Sun: 2pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.

Glasgow Theatre Royal, 282 Hope Street, Glasgow G2 3QA
Tue 29 Sept – Sat 3 Oct 2026
Tue – Sat: 8pm; Mats Wed, Fri: 5pm; Sat mat: 4pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.

A scene from Six The Musical. Pic: Pamela Raith Photography.

ENDS

Tags: Carrie-Anne Ingrouille, Eloise Lord, Emma Bailey, Festival Theatre, Gabriella Slade, Hannah Victoria, Hugh Simpson, Izi Maxwell, Jamie Armitage, Laura Dawkes, Lizzie Emery, Lucy Moss, Madison Swann, Musicals, Paul Gatehouse, Review, Six, Six The Musical, Tim Deiling, Toby Marlow, Yutong Zhang