In Mayhem Youth Theatre Group's recent production of SIX, the cast produced one the most vibrant and exciting performances under Project Coordinator and Artistic Director Andrew Griffiths who very recently won a National award for Outstanding Contribution to Youth Theatre.

This musical reimagines the Six Wives as members of a girls, super group as they each tell their own stories through powerful songs and concert monologues. .

Because of the small number in the cast, the group decided to divide the cast into two separate groups so anyone who came to see two performances in the day would get to see two completely different shows .

The Tudors’ cast who performed both on the Friday afternoon and Saturday night set the tone for the weekend with a slick and well rehearsed performance. Freya Piper as Katherine of Aragon was excellent with her tone and clear diction throughout and was perfectly complemented by thirteen year old Astrid Westerlund as Anne Boleyn who showed maturity well beyond her years with a strong and confident performance Lucy Edmunds as Jane Seymour and brought huge pathos to the part and her rendition of Heart of Stone was highly emotional.

In complete contrast Anne of Cleves is a hugely comic role  and in the very capable hands of Chloe Mitchell was a comic tour de force as she revelled in the role engaging the audience at every stage.The capricious part of Katherine Howard played by Holly Ayling was superbly executed with her great theatrical and vocal presence which lit up the stage and was perfectly offset by the emotion and tenderness that Ruby Parkes as Catherine Parr brought to the role in her very moving solo. 

SIX the Musical allows for a small chorus of Ladies in Waiting in this case in the form of Matilda Parkes and Lexi Lowe who added a lot to the success of the show and integrated well with the main cast. 

The Queens’ cast who performed on the Friday night and Saturday night performances took up the mantle and performed with huge energy and skill .

Mayhem stalwart TJ Friend, fresh from her triumph as Jamie in Mayhem's production of Everybody's Talking About Jamie showed her versatility with her commanding performance as Katherine of Aragon. Anya Duberley as Anne Boleyn was equally strong and sang with clarity and had great stage presence both with her acting and her singing. 

One of the highlights of the night was Josie Asbury's  performance of Jane Seymour. Her singing was sublime and wrought every emotion out of the song " Heart of Stone".

The part of the comic and sassy Anne of Cleves was left in the very capable hands of the other 13 year old Laila Martine who with her powerful and rich voice treated us to a very jazzy version of the song "Get down ." Together with Astrid , the two youngest members of the cast , the future of musical theatre in the town is something to look forward to in their very capable hands .

The ever reliable Isla Davies took on the role of Katherine Howard .Her ability to get so much emotion from a song that is both comic and tragic at the same time was quite incredible. An outstanding performance which left the audience moved.

The show  was completed with a hugely powerful song performed with great poignancy and skill by the excellent Bethan Nicholls who sent shivers down the audience's spine with her powerful rendition 

The Queens cast was completed by three Ladies in Waiting, Seren Ashplant, Lillie Wildin and Isabelle Manning. They provided the perfect backing singers.