Six

In the darkness, the famous rhyme begins: “Divorced, Beheaded, Died….Divorced, Beheaded, Survived”. The lights come up upon the six Queens styled as a girl group. They are staging a pop-concert and are determined to overthrow the traditional historical narrative of Henry VIII’s wives. Breaking down the fourth wall, they introduce themselves to the audience and welcome them to the show - The ‘Divorced, Beheaded Live Tour’ (“Ex-Wives”). They go on to introduce their band and tell the audience to get ready to party “old school, really old school”. The Queens are ready to step back into the spotlight, but they can’t decide who should lead the group and be “Queen of the Castle”. They ask the audience to judge which Queen had the “biggest load of B.S.” to deal with from Henry. This Queen will be the leading lady (“Ex-Wives (Reprise)”).

Catherine Aragon kicks off the competition and describes how she came to England to marry Henry’s brother, Arthur. She went on to marry Henry after Arthur’s