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 and Most Promising Playwright at both the 2025 London Standard Theatre Awards and the 2026 Critics' Circle Theatre Awards.

This new edition is published alongside the West End transfer in 2026.