The county's biggest theatre reopened this week to audiences with a multi award-winning show.

The musical Six was rehearsed at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury and opened this week, almost 450 days after the theatre was last able to invite audiences in back in March last year.

Six was nominated for five Olivier Awards including Best New Musical, and has been performed annually in front of thousands at West End Live in Trafalgar Square.

The new tour premieres at the Marlowe until Sunday, June 27, before touring theatres across the country.

The theatre’s chief executive, Deborah Shaw, said she hoped the venue would be back to full capacity from June 21 - the earliest date lockdown restrictions will be eased by the government, but says there are “lots of different scenarios” to stay open if that is not possible.

“One of the things that’s really saved us is that our audiences have continued to buy tickets and have taken it with such good grace when we have had to reschedule things and they have gone with that,” she said.

Whitstable-based portrait artist Ben Dickson was commissioned to create 50 illustrated cut-out portraits to populate seats that will be left vacant due to social distancing rules.

Six, which sees the six wives of Henry VIII finally take to the mic to tell their tales, was playing to sold-out houses in London’s West End and was on tour across the UK and Australia before the pandemic struck.

And it also had its opening night in New York cancelled when Broadway was shut down before the show was due to open.

“It’s a beautiful piece of high-octane theatre and it’s controllable, as in there is no interval and it’s a limited time,” Deborah said.

“We’re all ready and really confident. We have a couple of Kitemarks of safety and we’ve been following all of the government guidelines.”

Tickets for Six are down to the last few on some nights, but can be booked via the website, or by calling the box office on 01227 787787.

Other shows coming after include Louise Redknapp reprising her role in 9 To 5 The Musical, which will run from Tuesday, September 21 to Saturday, September 25. Book at marlowe.com

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