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. 1536 is a fiendishly smart and funny play which asks whether female solidarity can survive in a world where barbarism and misogyny are state sanctioned. Ava Pickett'splay won the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize in 2024 and was first performed at the Almeida Theatre, London, in 2025, directed by Lyndsey Turner. This new and revised edition was published alongside the 2026 West End production at the Ambassadors Theatre. Ava Pickett was named Best Writer at the 2025 Stage Debut Awards andMost Promising Playwright at both the 2025 London Standard Theatre Awards and the 2026 Critics' Circle Theatre Awards.

One of the best-known figures of British history, collective memory of Henry VIII presents us with the image of a corpulent, covetous, and cunning king whose appetite for worldly goods met few parallels, whose wives met infamously premature ends, and whose religion was ever political in intent. 1536 - focusing on a pivotal year in the life of the King - reveals a fuller portrait of this complex monarch, detailing the finer shades of humanity that have so long been overlooked. We discover that in 1536 Henry met many failures - physical, personal, and political - and emerged from them a revolutionary new king who proceeded to transform a nation and reform a religion. A compelling story, the effects of which are still with us today, 1536 shows what a profound difference can be made merely by changing the heart of a king.

'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. 1536 is a fiendishly smart and funny play which asks whether female solidarity can survive in a world where barbarism and misogyny are state sanctioned. Ava Pickett's play won the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize in 2024 and was first performed at the Almeida Theatre, London, in 2025, directed by Lyndsey Turner. This new and revised edition was published alongside the 2026 West End production at the Ambassadors Theatre. 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.

One of the best-known figures of British history, collective memory of Henry VIII presents us with the image of a corpulent, covetous, and cunning king whose appetite for worldly goods met few parallels, whose wives met infamously premature ends, and whose religion was ever political in intent. 1536 - focusing on a pivotal year in the life of the King - reveals a fuller portrait of this complex monarch, detailing the finer shades of humanity that have so long been overlooked. We discover that in 1536 Henry met many failures - physical, personal, and political - and emerged from them a revolutionary new king who proceeded to transform a nation and reform a religion. A compelling story, the effects of which are still with us today, 1536 shows what a profound difference can be made merely by changing the heart of a king.