The Regina Monologues

Admired, vilified, de-humanised

Three Catherines, two Annes and a Jane

Six women with one thing in common

Marriage to a man called Henry

All have passed into historical legend

Here we have six modern women who have also married one man

Their lives are both separate from and intertwined with their Tudor sisters as they each tell their stories from a room in which they all once lived

Their experiences - miscarriage, love affairs, betrayal are portrayed with humour and pathos

And a great deal of wine

CHARACTERS

Catherine of Aragon is now Cathy and offers a very moving portrayal of the pain and frustration experienced by a wife knowing that her stale marriage is essentially over but they are staying together for the sake of the family

Just like her historical counterpart, she is growing older and is increasingly aware that she has failed to give her husband the son that he craves

But in the 21st century, despite knowing her husband is having an affair, she seeks IVF treatment to remedy the situation

The victorious mistress is Annie, (Anne Boleyn)

Triumphantly gloating as she gets her man, her victorious delight soon turns to anger and despair as she sees history repeating itself

Jane (Seymour) is now a "sentimental airhead"

A sweet, exuberant, idealistic wife she's the one who made Henry most happy because she gave him his son

But she comes to realise that Henry only loved her for what she gave him, not for what she was

Henry VIII was attracted to Anne of Cleves from her portrait but wasn't so enamoured when they actually met

Here she's portrayed as someone who he meets through an Internet dating service!

Catherine Howard was Anne Boleyn's young cousin when she married 50-year-old Henry

She's now a teenage Katie, abused by her uncle Henry and blackmailed into marriage

Her monologue movingly shows the disintegration of a happy and confident teenager to a trapped and unhappy wife

Catherine (Parr) takes on the "difficult" step-children and looking after an ageing and sick husband for reasons that are not entirely altruistic - after Henry's death, she sets off on a world cruise!

REVIEWS

"This play is extremely well-researched, and not only do we get a real insight into what each wife might really have thought of their situation, by putting it in a modern context it also makes history leap off the page and implies that we are probably not all that different from out 16th century sisters

Cleverly constructed, this is not a series of six monologues spoken one after the other - it's skilfully arranged so that each wife takes a turn to reveal another bit of their story which serves to hold the audiences interest as all the tales reach their climax at once

The Regina Monologues is also both extremely funny and tear to the eye poignant, changing in the space of seconds ... displaying a wonderful sense of humour which sits effortlessly next to tragedy ... I found it to be a thoroughly entertaining evening that just "works" - and also leaves you with much food for thought" ~ Katy Lewis, bbc.co.uk

These six compelling Female Monologues run about 60 minutes