Theatre 2023: Six the Musical / Heroes of the Fourth Turning

Since I am partial to “book” musicals that are mostly sung-through, I was skeptical about watching “Six the Musical” as it only features 9 songs and the few that I heard did not convey much of a plot. Reading the synopsis wasn’t any more reassuring since the storyline itself is pretty thin and inconsequential.  Featuring the six wives of King Henry VIII in a competition to determine which of them suffered the most as his spouse, this is more of a pop concert marketed as a musical. The play started out as an entry in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2017 and at a mere 80 minutes long with no intermission, the show doesn’t seem to have been expanded much beyond the original Fringe offering.  After an intro number titled "Ex-Wives" that uses the iconic rhyme to describe the six (Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived), each character sings a song that is meant to prove how and why she is the one who should win the contest.

After reading the program notes and reviewing to the lyrics of each woman’s song, I have gained greater appreciation for what the musical was trying to achieve in conveying not only the historical plight of each woman, but also her thoughts and feelings about her situation.  Each wife is modeled after modern-day pop stars, from the style or genre of the song that is sung and the accompanying choreography, to her attitude or demeanour, wardrobe, and hairstyle.

The main “Queenspiration” of Catherine of Aragon was Beyonce, giving the character a mature, confident “Queen Bee” vibe.  Casting a statuesque actress and dressing her in a costume reminiscent to one Beyonce wore helped to complete the comparison. The defiant anthem “No Way” expresses Catherine’s hurt at being cast aside after all putting up with Henry’s infidelities, her staunch Catholic faith that prohibited divorce and her refusal to meekly walk away from her marriage, which she considered “for life”.

Anne Boleyn is portrayed as younger and more coquettish, which is ironic since Boleyn was in her late twenties to early thirties when she married Henry, while Aragon was only twenty-three.  One of inspirations for Anne’s character was Avril Lavigne who sings “in-your-face” grunge- pop songs.  The peppy tune “Don’t Lose Your Head” alludes both to Boleyn’s beheading as well as the more colloquial meaning of not losing your cool. The lyrics are peppered with modern catch phrases and slangs such as “Sorry not sorry” and “LOL”.  Bopping along to the quick beat, Boleyn describes how she fought off Henry’s attentions while he was still married to Catherine.  This caused him to split with the Catholic Church to form the Church of England (referred to as “C of E” in the song) so that he could marry Anne.  Then came his dalliances once they were wed and her flirting with other men to make him jealous (“jel” in the lyrics), resulting in his ordering her beheading for treason.  That was quite a bit of history relayed in a 4 minute song!  Anne is dressed in green and there are several references to her “green sleeves”, alluding to the idea that Henry wrote the song/poem “Greensleeves” for her while they were courting.

Next up is Jane Seymour, dubbed “the only woman Henry truly loved”. Inspired by Adele’s power ballads, “Heart of Stone” declares Seymour’s steadfast love for Henry even though she understands that he only values her because she bore him a son and heir.  The lyrics continue to lament that she dies in childbirth and will never see her son grow up.  Of the six songs, this one contains the least exposition and is more about imagery and emotion.  The actress cast to play Seymour is made to look a bit like Adele both in terms of hairstyle and wardrobe.  There was a quirky line in the intro song “Ex-Wives” where Jane sings “Stick around and you’ll suddenly see more…” which sounds like a reference to the song “Suddenly Seymour” from Little Shop of Horrors in addition to a pun on Jane's last name.  If so, then how clever?!

Henry’s fourth marriage was for political purposes to secure an alliance with Germany in case of a war with France.  Anne of Cleves, daughter of a German Duke, was chosen based on a portrait drawn by painter Hans Holbein the Younger.  When Henry met Anne in person, he was disappointed by her “plain” appearance.  After 6 months without consummating the union, he had the marriage amicably annulled with her consent and Anne was given a generous settlement.  Channeling hip hop artists like Nicki Minaj and Rhianna, Anne of Cleves twerks and gyrates to the song “Get Down”, which describes her luxurious life after freeing herself of Henry.  The lyrics subvert the old children’s nursery rhyme “I’m the King of the Castle.  You’re the Dirty Rascal” by having Cleves declare herself the “Queen of the Castle” in several refrains.  It is pretty clear that she did not suffer much other than the indignity of being rejected for being unattractive and at one point in the musical, she withdraws from the competition.  A German phrase (“das ist gut”) and reference to Wienerschnitzel add some flavour to Cleves’ background in the song.

The main inspiration for Katherine Howard’s character is the most obvious, as the actress is adorned with Ariana Grande’s signature long ponytail and pink skirt.  At almost 7 minutes with 4 choruses, Howard’s song “All You Wanna Do” is the longest and provides the most insight into the past of a figure who has been maligned in history as a wanton harlot. Kate was only seventeen when she married Henry, and the song makes it clear that she had been sexually preyed upon by older men since she was young, starting with her music teacher Henry Mannox and Tudor courtier Francis Dereham.  She sings “I was thirteen going on thirty” which seems like a reference to the famous line in The Sound of Music where Liesel sings “I am sixteen going on seventeen”.  The initial refrains of the pop song are upbeat, seductive and full of sexual inuendo as Howard is initially too young to realize that she has been abused.  She initially enjoys the attention and feels she is making a “connection”. By the end of the song, Katherine has wised up and is distraught at being manhandled all of her life.  The choreography supports this as the other wives (acting as background dancers) grab and paw her from all sides.  This song is so impactful as it gives a sympathetic depiction of Howard as a child being exploited, manipulated and molested since puberty by powerful men.  Howard’s character is also inspired by Britney Spears, who has also endured abuse and toxic relationships since childhood.  In fact the song All You Wanna Do is heavily influenced by Britney’s hit song “Toxic”.

Henry’s final wife, who actually survived him, was Catherine Parr.  As soon as she started to sing her song “I Don’t Need Your Love” with its smooth R&B tones, you could tell that the inspiration was Alicia Keys since the actress sounded just like her.  Parr describes how she had to give up the love of her life (Thomas Seymour) once Henry decided he wanted to marry her.  She writes a goodbye letter to Thomas and ironically tells him “I don’t need your love” which clearly isn’t true.  Rather in a later refrain, these are the words she would like to tell Henry, but doing so would not be wise.  In Parr’s brief intro during the initial song “Ex-Wives”, she sings “I’m a survivor” in the same key and rhythm as Destiny’s Child’s song Survivor.

At the end of this song, Parr questions why the stories of the wives have to be tied to the King.  She declares “That’s not my story.. there’s so much more” and conveys facts about herself, her interests and accomplishments separate from her ties to Henry.  The women decide that they should not be in competition and the final song “Six” allows each of them to re-imagine a happier ending for themselves.   Just like with so many other shows that we watched this year (&Juliet, Bad Cinderella), once again the theme of female empowerment is explored by rewriting history (which they call the “Historemix” in this musical), with the wives not just surviving, but thriving and transcending their roles as Henry’s wives.  I had fun watching this show since it was full of energy with great singing and dancing.  But I did not fully appreciate it until I did a deep dive into the lyrics.

Two days later, my husband Rich and I went to a very intense play called “Heroes of the Fourth Turning” at Crow’s Theatre.  We went into this show without any idea of what it was about, other than that it won several literary prizes and was a finalist for the Pulitzer.  We came out a bit shell-shocked and still unsure as to what it was that we just watched.  Written in 2019 by conservative American playwright Will Arbery, the play is set in 2017, eight months into the presidential term of Donald Trump, and a week after the “Unite the Right” Charlottesville riots that saw neo-Nazi white supremacists clash with counter-protesters resulting in multiple injuries and one death.  Accordingly, tensions were high and division palpable between the American left vs right.  The setting of the play is the backyard of a house party where four former students of a small conservative Catholic college in Wyoming reunite to celebrate a beloved professor being appointed as president.

Justin, Emily, Kevin and Teresa are all staunch, religious conservatives but represent different factions on the conservative political spectrum.  Teresa is an alt-right, fervent supporter of Trump, who she calls “a Golem molded from the clay of mass media .. come to save us all” and a disciple of Steve Bannon.  She believes that a sociological and ideological war is brewing.  At the other end of the spectrum is Emily, a compassionate, moderate conservative who happens to be the daughter of Gina, the new president of the college.  Emily is unfortunately afflicted with a mysterious illness that causes her debilitating pain.  She does not believe in abortion but understands that there is another point of view and empathizes with those who see it as their only alternative.  She works in a pregnancy crises centre and is friends with someone who works at Planned Parenthood as well as a drag queen.  Justin, a former Marine Corps sniper, is a militant conservative who also believes that war is inevitable but for him it will be a violent war that requires training and arming the college’s students in preparation.  Kevin is a weak, self-loathing alcoholic who craves a girlfriend but is hooked on Internet porn, tormented by the disconnect between his Catholic faith and his sexual desires.  He waffles and questions his beliefs and the polarization of the wide-ranging conservative philosophies.  He claims he voted for Trump (as they all did for one reason or another) but vomited right after.

The four interact with one another in the backyard, debating topics ranging from racism, homosexuality, abortion, pre-marital sex, as well as theology and politics, all in the context of conservative ideology.  Eventually Gina, who is an “Old-school conservative” joins them and is appalled at Teresa’s extreme viewpoints.  We did not find it particularly enjoyable to sit for over 2 hours (with no intermission), listening to a plotless play where the sole point seemed to be to highlight the mass ideological divide within the Republican party.  Being in the front row of a small space where the seating was “in-the-round” and the actors were often positioned right in front of us, there was not even an opportunity to leave if we had wanted to. It felt a bit like being in the movie “A Clockwork Orange” and having your eyelids forced open while strapped down and being forced to watching Fox News on end.

The one aspect that I did find interesting was the reference point for the title of the play, which was the 1997 book called “The Fourth Turning”, detailing the Strauss-Howe Generational Theory.  This theory by William Strauss and Neil Howe prophesizes how history moves in 80-year cycles divided into four transitional periods.  The “High” is a time of economic boom and security where institutions are strong, and individualism is weak. “Awakening” is a phase where people rebel against institutions in hopes of recapturing personal freedoms.  This is followed by “Unraveling” which is the opposite of the High phase.  Individualism is strong, Institutions are weak and culture wars are fought.  Finally the last phase which is Crisis, or the Fourth Turning” is the period of war and destruction where past institutions are destroyed and rebuilt in a new fashion.  The generation who come to adulthood during the Fourth Turning are known as “Heroes” who will lead the revolution.

Looking at recent history, the Great Depression and World War II could be identified as a Crisis period that was followed by the economic recovery of the 1950s (High) before the 1960s and 70s led to the fight for “Peace and Free Love” (Awakening).  It was during this period that the decision on Roe vs. Wade was made.  Next came the culture wars of the 1980s and 90s with battlegrounds being fought over military vs social spending, gender and sexual politics including abortion rights. (Unraveling).  It certainly seems that the period from the 2000s up to the current day have led the world into another Crisis period with military wars breaking out globally, the rise of nationalism and racial hatred and then the pandemic paralyzing the world.  So there seems to be some merit to this generational theory, at least over the past century.  Teresa explains the theory to the others, saying that they are of the Hero generation, and it is up to them to “fight bravely”.  Her most illuminating statement is about what she thinks caused the latest Crisis.  "... The crisis caused by Obama. Liberals think it's Trump. It almost doesn't matter."  Ultimately, it all depends on your point of view.

Having watched both Six the Musical and Heroes of the Fourth Turning back to back, I would like to retract all of my prior reservations about Six. In our troubled times where I get more than my fill of serious drama, violence and traumatic events just by watching the local or global news, I appreciate the escapism of light-hearted, joyous fare whose main goal is just to entertain.  As a matter of fact, as much as I have appreciated the stellar offerings from Crow’s Theatre in the past, maybe they can take note and program more “happy, feel-good” plays and musicals for their future seasons?