Skip to content
1981
Volume 14, Issue 2
  • ISSN: 1750-3159
  • E-ISSN: 1750-3167

Abstract

This article questions the critical appraisal of as a feminist musical and as a step forward for gender equality within the British theatre industry. When the show is viewed through a feminist lens, it is clear that, far from challenging the meanings of gender in popular culture, reproduces them with demeaning stereotypes that conform to the ideals of the male gaze. I conclude that the positive critical reaction to owes more to a need within the theatre community to have a successful British musical than to the merits of the show itself, and a wariness on the part of critics in a post-Weinstein era to be seen to question the artistic quality of a female-centric show that women clearly experience as empowering.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/smt_00028_1
2020-07-01
2024-11-01
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Angelis, A. de (2010), ‘Troubling gender on stage and with the critics’, Theatre Journal, 62:4, pp. 55759.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Binelli, Mark (2016), ‘Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda: The Rolling Stone interview’, Rolling Stone, 1 June, https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/hamilton-creator-lin-manuel-miranda-the-rolling-stone-interview-42607/. Accessed 24 June 2019.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Bowie-Sell, Daisy (2018), ‘Review: Six (Arts Theatre)’, WhatsOnStage, 3 September, https://www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre/reviews/six-arts-theatre-review_47499.html. Accessed 30 April 2020.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Bradley, Ian (2005), You’ve Got to Have a Dream: The Message of the Musical, Westminster: John Knox Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Cavendish, Dominic (2018), ‘Six review, Arts Theatre: Glorious musical meeting with all Henry VIII’s wives’, The Telegraph, 28 August, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/what-to-see/six-review-arts-theatre-gloriously-musical-meeting-henry-viiis/. Accessed 30 April 2020.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Dolan, Jill (2008), ‘Feminist performance criticism and the popular: Reviewing Wendy Wasserstein’, Theatre Journal, 60:3, pp. 43357.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Dolan, Jill (2013), The Feminist Spectator in Action: Feminist Criticism for the Stage and Screen, London: Palgrave Macmillan.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Gardner, Lyn (2018), ‘Six review: Henry VIII’s wives form girl band to take a pop at history’, The Guardian, 10 January, https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2018/jan/10/six-review-henry-viii-wives-arts-theatre-london. Accessed 30 April 2020.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Harris, Geraldine and Ashton, Elaine (2012), A Good Night Out for the Girls: Popular Feminisms in Contemporary Theatre and Performance, London: Palgrave Macmillan.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Kerbel, Lucy (2017), All Change Please: A Practical Guide to Achieving Gender Equality in Theatre, London: Nick Hern Books.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Leach, Elizabeth Eva (2001), ‘Vicars of “Wannabe”: Authenticity and the Spice Girls’, Popular Music, 20:2, pp. 14367.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Mandell, Jonathan (2016), ‘Why Hamilton is not the revolution you think it is’, HowlRound, 23 February, https://howlround.com/why-hamilton-not-revolution-you-think-it. Accessed 12 July 2019.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Mountford, Fiona (2018), ‘Six: The Musical review: Kick-ass musical about Henry VIII’s wives channels its inner Beyoncé’, The Evening Standard, 5 September, https://www.standard.co.uk/go/london/theatre/six-the-musical-review-kickass-musical-about-henry-viiis-wives-channels-its-inner-beyonc-a3927931.html. Accessed 30 April 2020.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Porkalob, Sara (2017), ‘The problem of spectacle in David Byrne’s Here Lies Love’, The Stranger, 24 May, https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2017/05/24/25166370/the-problem-of-spectacle-in-david-byrnes-here-lies-love. Accessed 19 February 2020.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Sakellaridou, Elizabeth (2014), ‘“Oh my god, audience participation!”: Some twenty-first-century reflections’, Comparative Drama, 48:1&2, pp. 1338.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Thorpe, Vanessa (2019), ‘From the Fringe to Broadway, Tudor musical Six is now a global hit’, The Observer, 22 June, https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/jun/22/six-musical-henry-wives-fringe-to-broadway-lucy-moss-toby-marlow. Accessed 30 April 2020.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Williams, Holly (2018), ‘Six the Musical review’, Time Out, 28 June, https://www.timeout.com/london/theatre/six-the-musical-review. Accessed 30 April 2020.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Wolf, Naomi (1991), The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used against Women, New York: W. Morrow.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Wolf, Stacy (2018), ‘Hamilton’s women’, Studies in Musical Theatre, 12:2, pp. 16780.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Woods, Wind Dell (2019), ‘“Bonding over phobia”: Restaging a revolution at the expense of black revolt’, in W. Sarah (ed.), Reframing the Musical: Race, Culture and Identity, London: Red Globe Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Barnes, Grace (2020), ‘“My sleeves may be green but my lipstick’s red”: Deconstructing the “feminism” in Six’, Studies in Musical Theatre, 14:2, pp. 137148, doi: https://doi.org/10.1386/smt_00028_1
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1386/smt_00028_1
Loading
  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): #MeToo; critics; feminist; gender; musical; Six; Spice Girls
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error