THE story of England’s most married monarch exerts an enduring fascination, and one of the newest plays to tackle the tale from the point of view of the six wives is Stephanie Easton’s A Wife for all Reasons.

It describes the turmoil at the court of Henry VIII, as seen by each queen – “divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived,” as they are mnemonically remembered.

Amateur Players of Sherborne have chosen the play to open the 2024 season, and Adrian Harding directs the production, which runs at the Studio Theatre in Marston Road from 15th to 20th January, nightly at 7.30 with a 2.30 Saturday matinee.

The cast includes Tanya Ogden as Catherine of Aragon, Sally Matthews as Anne Boleyn, Bethany Yates as Jane Seymour  (pictured), Bev Taylor-Wade as Anne of Cleves, Hazel Parrett as Kathryn Howard and Rosi Castle as Catherine Parr, with Anne-Marie Harvey as the lady in waiting, Robert Brydges, Adrian Harding, Jessica Colson and Richard Jones as poets and Roger Chadbourne as the narrator.

For more information, visit the APS website.