About the Show

Ava Pickett’s new drama on Tudor women amid rumour, danger, and shifting power.

Set in Tudor-era Essex, the story follows three women who meet in a secluded field to trade news from London. As reports circulate of escalating conflict between King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, the women begin to recognise parallels between the turmoil at court and events unfolding in their own community. Rumours of rising violence draw the royal crisis closer to their rural lives, threatening the fragile safety they have carved out for themselves.

The production is written by Ava Pickett, recipient of the 2024 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, and directed by Lyndsey Turner (Chimerica). Their collaboration grounds the play in a sharply observed examination of female relationships shaped by political upheaval and personal risk.

Critic Reviews (8)

"This is a gut-churning piece which shows how, almost 500 years on, we are still grappling with many of the same issues"
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"Believe the hype. Ava Pickett's debut play, which shows how Henry VIII's repudiation of Anne Boleyn echoes down to three 16th-century Essex girls...s every bit as arresting and electrifying as it was at the Almeida last year."
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"Fresh, funny and devastating, Ava Pickett's vision of Tudor England is brought to life with nuanced acting and superb design"
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"It's a feminist drama, one that highlights a rigged system that prizes and punishes female sexuality."
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"Masterly and haunting"
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"Reynolds, already exceptional in period pieces where an intelligent woman with a sharp tongue is required, shows she can play more of an underdog, an unhappy woman in extremis."
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"It’s a bold, essential piece of theatre that the West End should always look to have on its stages."
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"1536 is a once-in-a-blue-moon theatrical experience. I laughed. I cried. I probably could have screamed too."
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