Initially a promotional excerpt for SIX the musical, this article has grown into a fully-blown reflection piece instead so here goes: 

SIX is a charming, feminist, pop concert-esque musical about Henry VIII’s wives. I’ve always loved it so when it was suggested to me to put on ISL’s very own version of SIX for a CAS project, I was excited to say the least. 

Now, for those of you who do not know what CAS is, it stands for Creativity, Activity and Service and is basically a ploy by the IB to get students out of their rooms. The CAS project is a choice of one of these three activities with the added weight of collaboration and a leadership role. To be perfectly honest, there were a great many things I could have done for my CAS project rather than SIX- The High being one, but as a Year thirteen student next year, I am not able to do the musical, so creating my own was the obvious choice.

The process of learning lines and songs is nothing new to me but the show did bring a lot of enlightenment about how hard teachers actually work. Every detail of this show has been on my mind for the past 5 months. Before going to bed I would think; posters, newsletter, TV adverts, costumes, lines, dances- Oh my God; the dances. Honestly, dancing was how I spent most of my evenings when I should have been doing maths homework… But on the plus side, I now know nine dances that I will never again use in real life so who’s the real winner here? All jokes aside, even if musical theatre is not your thing, there is always something you can get out of the CAS project. Simple enjoyment is enough to keep your sanity rolling ‘till the summer of Year 13. 

Choosing to do something you really love, I think, is the only way to go about CAS. Yes, it’s a long winded process, yes, you have to write rather pointless reflections, but you make it bearable through your enjoyment of the activity. 

SIX was something that I have really loved doing but I can also share that joy with the audience so that is just the icing on the cake as far as I’m concerned. 

CAS really is an opportunity to do what you love in a school condoned manner. The prompt is so open that really you can do whatever you like as most things fit into Creativity, Activity or Service. My advice to the Year 11s and all those in the future is to get the most out of your CAS. They say TOK is the unexpected romance of the IB but really, it’s CAS. 

Now, after reading all this you may be thinking: What a nice reflection about something that has already passed but have I got news for you. The one and only performance of SIX is actually happening on Tuesday, June the 13th at 18:00 and the tickets are free! Yes, you did see that right: FREE! You just turn up and get to see the show of a lifetime, so if you don’t go, you’ve really fumbled your cards. 

Peace out CAS doers and enjoy the show Xx