Imagine six queens stuck together in heaven’s waiting room fighting over who gets to join their husband, Henry VIII, in royal heaven, as apparently even the afterlife is classist. Now imagine one actress portraying all seven characters. In Monster Theatre’s production ’Til Death: The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Tara Travis executes a seemingly insurmountable performance with captivating charm.
Writer and director, Ryan Gladstone, wastes no time getting the play started. Within the first 10 minutes of Act I, the audience is introduced to all six deceased wives — Catherine of Aragon (the betrayed wife), Anne Boleyn (the scheming wife), Jane Seymour (the peacemaker), Anne of Cleves (the ugly german), Kathryn Howard (the teenager) and Katherine Parr (the one in love with someone else). The women must choose amongst themselves who joins Henry VIII in royal heaven and who goes to ‘normal’ heaven.
In the second act, the women try and convince one another that they are Henry’s one true love. Through some lively discussions, the audience gets a history lesson in more accessible colloquial language. Unfortunately this part of the play lacks a good deal of the story progression and entertainment value found in the previous half.
’Til Death is no regular play about the 16th century. “Cradle robber,” “hot sex,” “get it up,” and of course, “bitch” and “slut” are all terms used by these queens. The jokes are rather simplistic, lacking both wit and subversion. The fast-paced discussions could quickly become confusing with just one actress portraying all six wives, but with the distinguishable body language and accents Travis brings to each character, the audience is never lost. You can expect some of the “whitest” dance moves you will ever see, facial expressions that will have you laughing out loud, and thrusting movements that you will hopefully never bring to the bedroom.
“Our play gives these women humorous vengeance, but sometimes I think Henry VIII's ghost might be haunting me,” said Travis. Before one of her performances, her old fashioned white undergarments — the only costume she wears in the play — were mysteriously covered in purple paint, in spite of the fact that there was no purple paint anywhere in the vicinity.
The play may be humorously sacrilegious at times, but even with its modern twists, ’Til Death: The Six Wives of Henry VIII stays respectful to its historical content. You will laugh-out-loud, fall in love Tara’s energy on stage and leave the theatre with a surprising amount of historical knowledge.
The play is performing at The Rio Theatre until September 18.