'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.
'Electrifying... bold, idiosyncratic and disturbingly funny... a terrific debut' — Evening Standard
'Razor-sharp, darkly comic and blisteringly relevant... a love letter to female friendship and a sharp dissection of how systemic misogyny deforms even the most intimate bonds... Pickett, a rising voice in British theatre, has written a script that is lean but dense, rich in vernacular and laced with wit. It crackles with crude yet charming dialogue... pulls the past into the present with unflinching clarity and bitter humour... The result is a play that feels vital and gripping. With its killer laugh-out-loud one-liners, pitch-perfect performances, and chilling observations, 1536 isn't just a period piece; it's a call to arms, dressed up as a comedy' — Independent
'Effortlessly funny, bold and ballsy' — Guardian
'What a joy it is to be at the birth of a really good play. Ava Pickett's 1536 is one such: a simple yet super-smart concept, a wonderfully vibrant script and a host of resonant themes... a cracking debut' — Financial Times
'Original and exciting... The cleverness of the play is the way it refracts some of the most famous events in history through the lives of unknown women, and in the process paints a portrait of a society where a King's actions validate the behaviour of men, encouraging them to treat women as disposable things... the dialogue is wonderfully supple and lively... it marks Pickett as a real talent to watch' — WhatsOnStage
'Effervescent and extremely funny' — Telegraph
'A fascinating feminist hybrid of EastEnders, Samuel Beckett and Wolf Hall... The engine of the play is Pickett's superb dialogue and the sweary, lairy modern language chats the women have... tremendous... a droll and perceptive period piece that's also a searing and unsettling contemporary feminist drama... we should all listen' — Time Out
Best Writer, Stage Debut Awards
Most Promising Playwright, Critics' Circle Theatre Awards
Most Promising Playwright, London Standard Theatre Awards
Susan Smith Blackburn Prize
