To rescue Kahlo from the clutches of the corporate art market, we need to acknowledge the overt and covert political dimensions of the work, demands GAVIN O’TOOLE
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His better halves
PETER MASON welcomes the national tour of an irreverent show that switches the spotlight to the wives of Henry VIII
SIX APPEAL: Nikki Bentley as Catherine of Aragon with the cast of Six The Musical
[Pamela Raith Photography]
If you can see past the relentless commodification you will be rewarded by enormously powerful work, suggests JENNY MITCHELL
CHRIS SEARLE revels in the one-off collaboration between an American polymath and a British Muslim, and detects the presence of their revolutionary forebear
GORDON PARSONS revels in an ebullient production of Shakespeare’s magical comedy
BRENT CUTLER welcomes a thoughtful analysis of the Erdogan regime, viewed through the evolving history of a neighbourhood in Istanbul
GORDON PARSONS regrets the price, but is dazzled by an outstandingly ambitious study of the way art restoration in particular, and culture in general was weaponised by the Nazis
Six The Musical
Vaudeville Theatre, London
TOBY MARLOW and Lucy Moss’s breathless, modern take on the fate of Henry VIII’s six wives now has a “forever” home at the Vaudeville in the West End, but it’s also about to embark on a British tour, beginning with Stockton-on-Tees and continuing through to Oxford at the back end of next year.
If it’s coming near you, then discard any prejudices you might have about glitzy, in-your-face musicals — and indeed about King Harry himself. Buy a ticket: it’s great fun.
Six has made its name with catchy pop songs, sparkly costumes, cutting wit and the novel idea of staging a 21st century gameshow in which Henry’s resurrected wives — all more or less divas — are pitted against each other to find out who was the most wronged.
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