Six the Musical will return to Kingston’s Rose Theatre next year for the third time, performing 17 shows from 17 – 29 May 2022, after being postponed due to the pandemic.
Director of the Rose Theatre Robert Dowd said: “Six was a great and diverse play. The play focuses on Henry VIII’s six wives rather than Henry himself.
“It’s a story with songs. It’s good for those who don’t want to see a traditional show or musical, as it’s like a pop concert.”
“It has great historical relevance, accuracy and reference. The premise of who deserves more sympathy, the wife who was married to him for twenty-four years or the one who was beheaded is hilarious,” he said.
Dowd told the Kingston Courier: “It’s contemporary culture as it is led by women, written by women and about women and a misogynistic and awful male king. Six has fantastic tunes, people relate to it, and return to see the show again.”
No refunds have been requested for the show despite the amount of times it has had to be pushed back due to the closing of the theatre during lockdown and social distancing restrictions. The pandemic has not deterred audiences.
There have been 4,700 tickets already sold out of the 12,000 available.
The Rose Theatre director Dowd said it had been hard work running the theatre during the lockdowns and restrictions, but the reopening was going well.
Covid measures such as masks and social distancing have been put in place as audiences want to have Covid-safe environments. These measures will be kept in place until it is clearer how Covid will affect the theatre in the winter, but Dowd said this was a reason why they have delayed the arrival of Six the Musical until next year.
Dowd said: “It’s coming alive, we’ve bounced back well and grew back faster than the rest of London.” He said the reopening of the Rose Theatre has helped to improve tourism and entertainment in Kingston, after Covid restrictions began to ease.
For Councillor Andreas Kirsch, the easing of Covid restrictions has resulted in a “huge desire to bring cultural events back”. He said the immeasurable values that cultural events bring would help Kingston to recover after the pandemic.
Kirsch said: “It reconnects people, supports jobs and the visitor economy and provides opportunities to enjoy a great shared cultural experience.
“Six the Musical is always a sell-out; it has a huge fan base so it’s great to see it return to Kingston. The Rose theatre is a cultural anchor for Kingston’s high street and a sell-out show means everyone benefits.”
The Rose Theatre is the largest production theatre in Southwest London, producing six to eight of their own shows a year. It was modelled on the original Elizabethan Rose Theatre on London’s Bankside.
Rose Theatre Press and Marketing Assistant Liv Buckley said: “We have been open for four months now and it has been great to welcome back local audiences to our world class theatre in Kingston.”
The next Rose Theatre original production will be The Seven Pomegranate Seeds in November before their ITS annual Christmas show, which will be Beauty and the Beast.
