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1536
'Kings don't kill their wives alright? It's not – it just don't happen. It doesn't.'
Tudor England. A field in Essex. Three women hurry to their childhood meeting place, thirsty for gossip from London. Word spreads of a clash between King Henry VIII and his Queen, Anne Boleyn. Closer to home, another rumour threatens to catch fire.
As these women realise the parallels between their ordinary, rural lives and the royal drama taking place at a distance, they are faced with several choices, all of which end in violence.
Ava Pickett's play 1536 is a fiendishly smart and funny drama which asks whether female solidarity can survive in a world where barbarism and misogyny are state sanctioned.
It was commended by the George Devine Award, won the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, and premiered at the Almeida Theatre, London, in 2025, directed by Lyndsey Turner. Ava Pickett was named Best Writer at the 2025 Stage Debut Awards.
Tudor England. A field in Essex. Three women hurry to their childhood meeting place, thirsty for gossip from London. Word spreads of a clash between King Henry VIII and his Queen, Anne Boleyn. Closer to home, another rumour threatens to catch fire.
As these women realise the parallels between their ordinary, rural lives and the royal drama taking place at a distance, they are faced with several choices, all of which end in violence.
Ava Pickett's play 1536 is a fiendishly smart and funny drama which asks whether female solidarity can survive in a world where barbarism and misogyny are state sanctioned.
It was commended by the George Devine Award, won the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, and premiered at the Almeida Theatre, London, in 2025, directed by Lyndsey Turner. Ava Pickett was named Best Writer at the 2025 Stage Debut Awards.
- GenresPlaysHistorical Fiction
138 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 15, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
May 10, 2025
Utterly phenomenal
June 15, 2025
A perfect play? Funny, meaningful, contemporary yet also wonderfully historical, important. Ava Pickett is a revelation.
September 15, 2025
Good!! Tense!!
February 16, 2026
Absolutely phenomenal, such a tense, witty, incredible piece of theatre! Would love to see this live!
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November 23, 20251536 fizzles and pops with drama, tension and copious amounts of humour, all underscored by very sinister happenings in London, a not-so-distant turbulence that slowly permeates the surrounding English counties. I found this play to be so witty and imbued with so much vigour that is solidified by the modern dialogue. The parallels between 16th century patriarchal authoritarianism and politics of the now is unflinching.
I audibly gasped more than once. A fantastic journey through love, friendship, protection, grief, loss and revelations.
I audibly gasped more than once. A fantastic journey through love, friendship, protection, grief, loss and revelations.
March 17, 2026
Brilliant! I had been dying to read 1536, and it did not disappoint.
Anna: Has it always been like this?
Mariella: I don't know.
Anna: Will it always be like this?
Mariella: I don't know.
1536 is about women living in a world of men; women in the Tudor era, women today, and women throughout history. It is centred on Anna, Jane, and Mariella, friends who live in a rural village in the Tudor period. 1536 is a pivotal year for England and for women, given it is when Queen Anne Boleyn is accused of treason and is later decapitated for it. One of the play's very first scenes brings news that the Queen has been arrested, so we follow these women's lives, while the events in London have ripple effects in this place that once seemed so removed from the world of the monarchs.
I loved it! It is a play about the Tudor period, but it is also about today and the feminicides and violence targeting women, without needing to make the connection explicit. It discusses how the actions of those in power enable others to do the same, and the violent masculinity that is present today, but has been around for centuries.
I cannot wait to watch the play later this year, but I'm glad I made the time to read it beforehand.
Anna: Has it always been like this?
Mariella: I don't know.
Anna: Will it always be like this?
Mariella: I don't know.
1536 is about women living in a world of men; women in the Tudor era, women today, and women throughout history. It is centred on Anna, Jane, and Mariella, friends who live in a rural village in the Tudor period. 1536 is a pivotal year for England and for women, given it is when Queen Anne Boleyn is accused of treason and is later decapitated for it. One of the play's very first scenes brings news that the Queen has been arrested, so we follow these women's lives, while the events in London have ripple effects in this place that once seemed so removed from the world of the monarchs.
I loved it! It is a play about the Tudor period, but it is also about today and the feminicides and violence targeting women, without needing to make the connection explicit. It discusses how the actions of those in power enable others to do the same, and the violent masculinity that is present today, but has been around for centuries.
I cannot wait to watch the play later this year, but I'm glad I made the time to read it beforehand.
April 2, 2026
Ben Reads Plays #9
This was sooo cool!! The modern gossipy way they speak is so fun and really sweeps you up into it. But it’s also so masterful in making sure you’re aware of how desperately important this ‘gossip’ really is. Every scene is important and sets up dominoes that are all knocked down in the last unbelievable whirlwind of a scene that builds like crazy.
This was sooo cool!! The modern gossipy way they speak is so fun and really sweeps you up into it. But it’s also so masterful in making sure you’re aware of how desperately important this ‘gossip’ really is. Every scene is important and sets up dominoes that are all knocked down in the last unbelievable whirlwind of a scene that builds like crazy.
April 18, 2026
When I finished reading this I put the book down and just yelled. I couldn't do anything else. This is bracingly good. Clever, sexy, filled with action, but also horrifying, and smart about the violence it contains.
This is a different kind of history of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. A really, really smart take on the English history play and the British state-of-the-nation play.
This is a different kind of history of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. A really, really smart take on the English history play and the British state-of-the-nation play.
May 8, 2025
A revelation
February 16, 2026
My definition of success is being able to write this brilliantly/ acting in a play this phenomenal. Ava Pickett is the 2020’s Princess Diana.
February 27, 2026
worth the ads on scribd to read the pdf
March 5, 2026
loved!
March 7, 2026
May be the best play I’ve ever read
April 15, 2026
Great writing
April 21, 2026
Can’t wait to see this on stage - such a gripping story with relatable and meaty characters. Such a good premise.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews