'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.

'Remarkable... the West End hit of the year... Fresh, funny and devastating' — Telegraph

'Astonishing... 1536 is a once-in-a-blue-moon theatrical experience. I laughed. I cried. I probably could have screamed too... Pickett's play is a tour de force' — Time Out (2026)

'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

'Electrifying... bold, idiosyncratic and disturbingly funny... a terrific debut' — Evening Standard

'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

'The hype is justified... Pickett's dialogue nails her protagonists' teasing intimacies and friendly rivalries from the off... then slowly but surely tightens the noose' — The Times

'Effortlessly funny, bold and ballsy' — Guardian

Best Writer, Stage Debut Awards

Most Promising Playwright, Critics' Circle Theatre Awards

Most Promising Playwright, London Standard Theatre Awards

Susan Smith Blackburn Prize