The six wives of Henry VIII hold a singing competition in this West End musical they should have called The Ex-Factor. Or The Tudorvision Song Contest. Or The Reformation Eras Tour.

Drawing from two of the most influential pop culture phenomena of recent years, Hamilton and RuPaul’s Drag Race (particularly the HERstory of the World episode of All Stars 2), Six delivers an 80-minute feminist take on the House of Tudor. What the musical lacks in narrative it makes up for in personality, exaggerating and modernising a single characteristic of each wife for comic (or preachy in Catherine Parr’s case) effect, like if the Spice Girls were funny and could sing.

And the songs are strong and smart, bringing a variety of pop styles and camp costumes to its Eurevisionist song contest (right down to the “live” band playing along to a backing track). There are also musical references to Beyoncé and Kylie Minogue, like a diva version of Hamilton (Lady Hamilton?) without the lyrical complexity; no one attempts to rhyme antidisestablishmentarianism which is a shame.

But there are plenty of witty numbers, such as the dating app parody ‘Haus of Holbein’; Catherine Howard’s surprisingly affecting ‘All You Wanna Do’, which moves from sexy bop to abuse trauma without altering the lyrics; and the standout performance from Dionne Ward-Anderson as Anne of Cleves, whose comedic and vocal talents make ‘Get Down’ the crowning moment of this brief but uplifting stage show. As Anne Boleyn might say, three thumbs up.