Live-streamed from The Oval Space in Bethnal Green on 10 October and available on demand until midnight tonight, The Reunion brings together the original six Queens from Tudor poptastic musical SIX plus one of their alternates.
This is a massive punch in the air for girl power and pop princesses: queer girls, black girls, single girls, trans girls, young girls and all on the spectrum of woman are celebrated, for their minds, their bodies, their sass and their durability.
There isn’t much in the set from musical theatre (unless you count ‘I Kissed A Girl’ from &Juliet), and sadly nothing from SIX, but each choice is flying the flag for the voice of women. If you remember the Eurythmics with Aretha Franklin, or The Spice Girls, you will recognise this celebratory attitude.
This is a short and sweet show – just under an hour – but mixes solo, quieter numbers with more spectacular group pieces with complementary choreography. It is clear these seven performers (Aimee Atkinson, Alexia McIntosh, Grace Mouat, Jarneia Richard-Noel, Maiya Quansah-Breed, Millie O’Connell and Natalie Paris) are fast friends who support each other.
I felt the show took a number or so to get going, but as each performer got up and did her own thing, the atmosphere developed and everyone relaxed into the joy of live performance. Watching at home you got the spectacle of an impromptu pop experience, and I’m sure the audience there on the night loved it.
Finishing the set with Little Mix’s ‘Salute’ feels like a huge two fingers up to anyone who still underestimates what women are capable of. One of SIX’s strengths is the reclaimed place in history of the wives of Henry VIII, and this set is developed in a similar way, to give each Queen her time in the spotlight.
The Reunion was performed live in front of a small audience and also available for 72 hours rental as a livestream, via Thespie.
Image credit: Thespie