1536

1536 at the Ambassadors Theatre: Three Tudor Women, One Furious Modern Voice

Tudor England, 1536. In a quiet field on the marshy edge of an Essex village, three women meet to swap gossip from London. Anne Boleyn has just been arrested, and rumours of her fall race north along the same paths as smaller, uglier village rumours about wives and husbands, fidelity and punishment. Within weeks, the queen’s fate will start writing itself in miniature in their own lives.

That’s the engine of 1536Ava Pickett’s blistering debut play, which transfers to the Ambassadors Theatre for a strictly limited 13-week run from 2 May to 1 August 2026, following a sold-out, critically acclaimed premiere at the Almeida.

A debut that arrived fully formed

Pickett — already a screenwriter on The GreatBrassicand Ten Pound Poms— won the 2024 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for 1536picked up the Stage Debut Award for Best Writer in 2025, and earned a special commendation from the George Devine Award. The Almeida run scored four-star reviews almost across the board. The Guardiancalled it “effortlessly funny, bold and ballsy”; the Independenthailed a “razor-sharp, darkly comic and blisteringly relevant” new play; the Evening Standardwent with “electrifying… bold, idiosyncratic and disturbingly funny… a terrific debut.” The Financial Timesfound “a wonderfully vibrant script and a host of resonant themes… a cracking debut.”

This year’s Olivier Awards picked up the signal: 1536is nominated for Best New Play at the 2026 Olivier Awards, with Lyndsey Turner also nominated for Best Director.

The cast

Reprising their original Almeida roles are BAFTA Award-nominee Liv Hill (Three Girls) as Jane, BAFTA Award-nominee Siena Kelly (Black Mirror) as Anna, and Olivier Award-nominee Tanya Reynolds (Sex Education) as Mariella — three actors who snap into chemistry the moment they open their mouths. They’re joined for the West End run by Oliver Johnstone (All My Sons) as Richard, and George Kemp (High Noon) as William.

The creative team carries over too: Lyndsey Turner (Chimerica) directs Max Jones’s reedy, marshy set, with lighting by Tim Lutkin and sound by Tingying Dong. The transfer is produced in the West End by the Almeida Theatre, Sonia Friedman Productions, Annapurna Theatre and LuckyChap — Margot Robbie’s company — who are also working with the BBC to develop the play into an eight-part TV drama.

Why it lands

What makes 1536hit harder than the average “feminist period drama” pitch is its refusal to look up. The royal court stays offstage, distant, almost rumour. The play stays in the field, where three friends argue about boys, sex, work, marriage and motherhood in language that would feel at home on a 21st-century night bus. Then, slowly, the violence of Henry’s London starts seeping into the Essex mud — not as metaphor but as permission. As Henry treats Anne, the village men begin treating their women.

Time Out’s Andrzej Lukowski summed up the trick neatly, calling it “a fascinating feminist hybrid of EastEnders, Samuel Beckett and Wolf Hall” — and noting that what looks at first like a sweary, lairy hangout play curdles, by the end, into something “droll and perceptive… also a searing and unsettling contemporary feminist drama.”

Practical information

The Ambassadors Theatre sits on West Street, WC2H 9ND, a minute from Leicester Square. Performances run Monday to Saturday at 7.30pm with Wednesday and Saturday matinees at 2.30pm. Press night is Tuesday 12 May 2026 at 7pm. The play runs around 2 hours straight through, no interval, and is recommended for ages 14+. Content note: strong language, depictions of violence and sexual assault, and discussion of miscarriage, rape, domestic violence and traumatic childbirth; the production also uses blood, flashing lights and haze.

A 13-week limited window, an Olivier-nominated new play, three lead performances that earned this transfer the hard way, and a BBC adaptation already in motion. If you’ve been waiting for 1536this is the run to catch.

Set against the backdrop of Tudor England, 1536 is a compelling new play that unravels the intricacies of royal scandal and rural life. The narrative opens in a quiet field in Essex, where three women gather to share the latest gossip from London, only to find themselves entangled in a web of betrayal and loyalty as whispers of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn’s tumultuous relationship circulate. Following its critically acclaimed, sold-out run at the Almeida Theatre, 1536 is now showing at the Ambassadors Theatre, London, from 2nd May 2026 until 1st August 2026. With a running time of 2 hours and no interval, this poignant play invites audiences to explore themes of love and trust amidst political intrigue. Don’t miss your chance to see 1536 at the Ambassadors Theatre, London, and delve into a fascinating chapter of history.

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