1536 Review: WHEN HISTORY SHARPENS ITS KNIFE
1536 Review: WHEN HISTORY SHARPENS ITS KNIFE
AVA PICKETT'S ASTONISHING NEW PLAY IS A DEVASTATING, FEMINIST MASTERPIECE THAT TRANSFORMS TUDOR HISTORY INTO ONE OF THE MOST ELECTRIFYING PIECES OF THEATRE IN RECENT MEMORY
AVA PICKETT'S ASTONISHING NEW PLAY IS A DEVASTATING, FEMINIST MASTERPIECE THAT TRANSFORMS TUDOR HISTORY INTO ONE OF THE MOST ELECTRIFYING PIECES OF THEATRE IN RECENT MEMORY
★★★★★
★★★★★
Every so often, a play arrives that changes the atmosphere inside a theatre. You can feel it in the silence. In the involuntary gasps. In the audience, they collectively realize they are witnessing something extraordinary unfold in real time.
Every so often, a play arrives that changes the atmosphere inside a theatre. You can feel it in the silence. In the involuntary gasps. In the audience, they collectively realize they are witnessing something extraordinary unfold in real time.
Ava Pickett's 1536 is one of those plays.
Ava Pickett's 1536 is one of those plays.
Following its sold-out premiere at the Almeida Theatre last year, this blistering new drama now storms into the West End with every ounce of its power not only intact but amplified. It is, quite simply, one of the finest new plays I have seen in years—perhaps ever. I left the theatre stunned into silence, my jaw genuinely aching from the number of times I found myself physically gasping at another devastating revelation, another perfectly timed line, another emotional blow that landed with almost frightening precision.
Following its sold-out premiere at the Almeida Theatre last year, this blistering new drama now storms into the West End with every ounce of its power not only intact but amplified. It is, quite simply, one of the finest new plays I have seen in years—perhaps ever. I left the theatre stunned into silence, my jaw genuinely aching from the number of times I found myself physically gasping at another devastating revelation, another perfectly timed line, another emotional blow that landed with almost frightening precision.
This is extraordinary writing.
This is extraordinary writing.
Set in rural Essex in the days leading up to Anne Boleyn's execution, 1536 follows three women—Anna (Siena Kelly), Jane (Liv Hill), and Mariella (Tanya Reynolds)—whose daily conversations begin with excited gossip filtering in from London. The Queen's arrest is fascinating, almost unbelievable. Surely such things belong to palaces and courts, far removed from village life.
Set in rural Essex in the days leading up to Anne Boleyn's execution, 1536 follows three women—Anna (Siena Kelly), Jane (Liv Hill), and Mariella (Tanya Reynolds)—whose daily conversations begin with excited gossip filtering in from London. The Queen's arrest is fascinating, almost unbelievable. Surely such things belong to palaces and courts, far removed from village life.
Except they don't.
Except they don't.
That realization forms the terrifying heart of Pickett's play.
That realization forms the terrifying heart of Pickett's play.
As Henry VIII's increasingly tyrannical rule reshapes the nation, the women slowly recognize that power does not remain confined to the throne. It trickles downward. Men in their own village begin adopting the King's entitlement, his cruelty, his certainty that women exist to be controlled, discarded, or punished. What initially appears to be historical drama evolves into something infinitely more unsettling: a study of how institutional misogyny grants ordinary men permission to weaponize power within their own homes.
As Henry VIII's increasingly tyrannical rule reshapes the nation, the women slowly recognize that power does not remain confined to the throne. It trickles downward. Men in their own village begin adopting the King's entitlement, his cruelty, his certainty that women exist to be controlled, discarded, or punished. What initially appears to be historical drama evolves into something infinitely more unsettling: a study of how institutional misogyny grants ordinary men permission to weaponize power within their own homes.
Pickett never treats history as a museum exhibit.
Pickett never treats history as a museum exhibit.
Instead, she makes it breathe.
Instead, she makes it breathe.
She understands that the most terrifying aspect of patriarchal violence is not simply its existence but its normality—how easily it becomes absorbed into everyday life. A law changes in London; a husband changes at home. A queen loses her head; countless unnamed women lose their voices.
She understands that the most terrifying aspect of patriarchal violence is not simply its existence but its normality—how easily it becomes absorbed into everyday life. A law changes in London; a husband changes at home. A queen loses her head; countless unnamed women lose their voices.
It is impossible not to see the modern parallels, yet Pickett possesses the rare confidence to avoid underlining them. She trusts her audience. The connections emerge naturally, making them all the more devastating. Her feminism isn't inserted awkwardly into Tudor England—it feels horrifyingly inevitable, revealing that the mechanisms of misogyny have always evolved while remaining fundamentally recognizable.
It is impossible not to see the modern parallels, yet Pickett possesses the rare confidence to avoid underlining them. She trusts her audience. The connections emerge naturally, making them all the more devastating. Her feminism isn't inserted awkwardly into Tudor England—it feels horrifyingly inevitable, revealing that the mechanisms of misogyny have always evolved while remaining fundamentally recognizable.
The writing itself is almost impossibly assured.
The writing itself is almost impossibly assured.
Every conversation dances effortlessly between wicked humor and unbearable dread. Pickett possesses an astonishing ear for dialogue, allowing laughter to bloom naturally before snatching it away seconds later with a line that seems to freeze the air inside the auditorium. She understands pacing with surgical precision, revealing information exactly when it will inflict maximum emotional damage.
Every conversation dances effortlessly between wicked humor and unbearable dread. Pickett possesses an astonishing ear for dialogue, allowing laughter to bloom naturally before snatching it away seconds later with a line that seems to freeze the air inside the auditorium. She understands pacing with surgical precision, revealing information exactly when it will inflict maximum emotional damage.
Several times throughout the evening, I caught myself thinking, Surely she can't top that scene.
Several times throughout the evening, I caught myself thinking, Surely she can't top that scene.
She always did.
She always did.
Again.
Again.
And again.
And again.
There is not a wasted sentence anywhere in 1536. Every exchange deepens character, every joke disguises another emotional knife, every seemingly ordinary domestic moment quietly prepares the audience for another seismic shift. It's writing so controlled, so intelligent, so ruthlessly effective that one can only admire the craftsmanship while simultaneously being emotionally dismantled by it.
There is not a wasted sentence anywhere in 1536. Every exchange deepens character, every joke disguises another emotional knife, every seemingly ordinary domestic moment quietly prepares the audience for another seismic shift. It's writing so controlled, so intelligent, so ruthlessly effective that one can only admire the craftsmanship while simultaneously being emotionally dismantled by it.
It is, without exaggeration, among the most perfectly written new plays I have encountered.
It is, without exaggeration, among the most perfectly written new plays I have encountered.
I finally understand why theatre audiences are so excited about Ava Pickett. This is the kind of playwright whose work creates genuine anticipation for whatever comes next. The prospect of her forthcoming Bloodsport: After Helen of Troy later this year suddenly feels less like another premiere and more like a theatrical event.
I finally understand why theatre audiences are so excited about Ava Pickett. This is the kind of playwright whose work creates genuine anticipation for whatever comes next. The prospect of her forthcoming Bloodsport: After Helen of Troy later this year suddenly feels less like another premiere and more like a theatrical event.
If 1536 is any indication, Pickett is not simply an exciting new voice.
If 1536 is any indication, Pickett is not simply an exciting new voice.
She is a major one.
She is a major one.
Lyndsey Turner's direction matches the script's brilliance beat for beat. She never overwhelms Pickett's language with unnecessary theatrical flourishes, instead allowing every silence, every pause, every glance to accumulate unbearable tension. Turner understands exactly when stillness becomes more violent than movement, staging scenes that repeatedly land like punches to the stomach.
Lyndsey Turner's direction matches the script's brilliance beat for beat. She never overwhelms Pickett's language with unnecessary theatrical flourishes, instead allowing every silence, every pause, every glance to accumulate unbearable tension. Turner understands exactly when stillness becomes more violent than movement, staging scenes that repeatedly land like punches to the stomach.
The production possesses an extraordinary sense of inevitability. Every scene inches the audience toward catastrophe while simultaneously making us wish desperately that history might somehow choose another ending.
The production possesses an extraordinary sense of inevitability. Every scene inches the audience toward catastrophe while simultaneously making us wish desperately that history might somehow choose another ending.
It cannot.
It cannot.
That knowledge makes every moment hurt even more.
That knowledge makes every moment hurt even more.
At the center of everything stand three magnificent performances.
At the center of everything stand three magnificent performances.
Liv Hill gives Jane an emotional openness that makes every betrayal feel deeply personal. Hill captures the painful transition from youthful optimism to devastating awareness with remarkable subtlety, allowing innocence to erode almost imperceptibly before our eyes.
Liv Hill gives Jane an emotional openness that makes every betrayal feel deeply personal. Hill captures the painful transition from youthful optimism to devastating awareness with remarkable subtlety, allowing innocence to erode almost imperceptibly before our eyes.
Siena Kelly's Anna radiates intelligence and resilience, fiercely determined to preserve her independence even as the world conspires against it. Kelly gives the character much of her restless energy, balancing wit with simmering defiance that grows increasingly heartbreaking as the walls begin closing in.
Siena Kelly's Anna radiates intelligence and resilience, fiercely determined to preserve her independence even as the world conspires against it. Kelly gives the character much of her restless energy, balancing wit with simmering defiance that grows increasingly heartbreaking as the walls begin closing in.
Then there is Tanya Reynolds' Mariella, whose warmth, humor, and emotional generosity become equally essential. Reynolds delivers with a performance of remarkable compassion, revealing the profound strength required simply to survive in a society designed to deny women agency.
Then there is Tanya Reynolds' Mariella, whose warmth, humor, and emotional generosity become equally essential. Reynolds delivers with a performance of remarkable compassion, revealing the profound strength required simply to survive in a society designed to deny women agency.
Together, the three actresses achieve something rare.
Together, the three actresses achieve something rare.
Their chemistry never feels performed.
Their chemistry never feels performed.
It feels lived.
It feels lived.
Their friendship becomes the emotional foundation upon which Pickett constructs the play's devastating central question: can female solidarity survive in a world where men have been taught that domination is both their right and their duty?
Their friendship becomes the emotional foundation upon which Pickett constructs the play's devastating central question: can female solidarity survive in a world where men have been taught that domination is both their right and their duty?
The answer is as heartbreaking as it is unforgettable.
The answer is as heartbreaking as it is unforgettable.
Leaving the theatre, I found myself thinking about Kimberly Bellflower's magnificent John Proctor Is the Villain, another fearless feminist work that brilliantly re-examines the stories societies choose to tell themselves. If Bellflower and Pickett were ever to collaborate, the result would surely be one of the most thrilling theatrical events imaginable. They possess different voices, but both understand how to expose centuries-old structures of misogyny with startling emotional immediacy.
Leaving the theatre, I found myself thinking about Kimberly Bellflower's magnificent John Proctor Is the Villain, another fearless feminist work that brilliantly re-examines the stories societies choose to tell themselves. If Bellflower and Pickett were ever to collaborate, the result would surely be one of the most thrilling theatrical events imaginable. They possess different voices, but both understand how to expose centuries-old structures of misogyny with startling emotional immediacy.
Yet 1536 belongs entirely to Pickett.
Yet 1536 belongs entirely to Pickett.
This is her triumph.
This is her triumph.
She has announced herself not merely as an exceptional playwright but as one of the defining dramatic voices of her generation. The confidence, intelligence, and emotional precision on display here suggest an astonishing career ahead.
She has announced herself not merely as an exceptional playwright but as one of the defining dramatic voices of her generation. The confidence, intelligence, and emotional precision on display here suggest an astonishing career ahead.
Years from now, audiences may well remember seeing 1536 the way previous generations remember encountering landmark plays that permanently altered the landscape of British theatre.
Years from now, audiences may well remember seeing 1536 the way previous generations remember encountering landmark plays that permanently altered the landscape of British theatre.
Some productions entertain.
Some productions entertain.
Some provoke.
Some provoke.
A precious few fundamentally alter the way we think.
A precious few fundamentally alter the way we think.
1536 accomplishes all three.
1536 accomplishes all three.
It is fearless, devastating, breathtakingly written, and, quite simply, unforgettable.
It is fearless, devastating, breathtakingly written, and, quite simply, unforgettable.
1536 - Ambassadors Theatre
Attended on 16 June 2026