Five of Bermuda's leading actresses are presenting a females-only `rehearsed play reading' at the Bermuda National Gallery today.

`Four Queens Wait for Henry', an exhilarating and amusing one-act play, was written in 1959 by L. Du Garde Peach, and is set in 1547. The plot centres around King Henry VIII, who is on his death-bed and about to meet, not only his Maker, but his four previous wives who, understandably, all bear certain grudges.

"It's a good little play, just the right length for a lunch hour show and, best of all, it requires a female cast. There aren't too many good roles around for women so I was pleasantly surprised to find this'', says director/organiser Carol Birch, who takes on the role of the tragic young Queen Ann Boleyn. "I think people will find it very entertaining.'' Also taking part are Annette Hallett (Katherine of Aragon), Helen Coffey (Catherine Howard), and Katherine Watts who plays Jane Seymour. Jean Hannant takes on the role of the Recording Angel: "I float about with a clip board and quill pen'', she confides.

Other performances this year for Mrs. Hannant have included `A Song and a Story' (with Carol Birch) at Daylesford and in the Gilbert & Sullivan Society's `A Little Night Music' for the Bermuda Festival. At present, she is busy rehearsing for another Bermuda Festival production -- Marjorie Pettit's Choral Concert for the Gilbert & Sullivan Society.

Mrs. Birch is something of a regular with the popular National Gallery Wednesday lunch hour programmes, having appeared in previous readings with John Instone.

Best known, perhaps, for her performances in the one-woman play `Shirley Valentine', she has most recently appeared in `Educating Rita' and `There Goes the Bride' in this year's Jabulani Repertory Company's summer season.

Annette Hallett, also an accomplished actress, has just directed the smash hit, `Driving Miss Daisy' for Jabulani and her production of `Private Lives', Jabulani's third offering of the season, opens in January.

Helen Coffey, who starred in `A Little Night Music' in the Bermuda Festival, is also a regular player for Jabulani. In January, she will take the leading role (opposite Richard Fell) in `Private Lives'.

Katharine Watts has been seen in `A Little Night Music' and will also be singing in Marjorie Pettit's choir in the Bermuda Festival Concert in February.

`Four Queens for Henry' will be performed at the Bermuda National Gallery today at 12.30 p.m. (brown bag lunches welcome). Admission is $5 to the public and free for members of the Gallery.

Next week's lunch-time production (December 10) is `Mosaic', when Ruth Thomas and Company once again conjure up the holiday spirit with their `Bermuda Christmas Traditions.'