1536 – “one of the top three plays I have ever seen”
Ava Pickett’s debut play, 1536, went down a storm when it opened at the Almeida Theatre and soon after announced its West End transfer.
I can’t remember the last time there was a theatre show on that so many people told me I had to see. I have been getting emails from people I don’t know saying ‘YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS’. So I went along to check it out – and it is one of the top three plays I have ever seen (along with The Nether and The Pillowman).
THE SHOW
1536, England and news reaches a small Essex village that King Henry VIII has had his wife (Anne Boleyn) arrested and put on trial for high treason and adultery. This sends shockwaves across the country with people asking, “Kings don’t kill their wives. Right?”
Anna, Mariella, and Jane gossip about the latest news from London about the trial and their day-to-day lives. Anna is a sexually liberal woman, with no shame about enjoying the company of men.
Mariella, the local nurse, is heartbroken after her boyfriend William left her for another woman who is now having his baby. Mariella despises her but as the local nurse, she has to treat her pregnancy with grace.
Jane has been matched with a man, Richard, whom she is to marry but the rose-tinted glasses she wears soon get slapped off her face, leaving her with the realisation that men aren’t always what you dream of.
When news spreads that Anne Boleyn has been found guilty and killed for adultery, two girls in the next village are dragged out of their houses by their husbands and murdered for the same crime. Tension rises for Anna with worries that the same could happen to her.
THE CAST
The three women in this play are a tour de force. The year may be 1536 but they talk like its 1999 and they are ready for a night out on the town.
Liv Hill as Jane, Siena Kelly (Anna) and Tanya Reynolds (Mariella) give award-worthy, glorious performances as their very different characters.
Jane is ‘turning over her leaves’ and trying to be a better person until she finds out ‘you only get one leaf’ in life and ‘not a series of leaves’. When she turns up with a black eye, the girls question how you can better please your husbands “I guess the trick is to find out what it was that made him hit you and not do that again”, says Mariella.
THOUGHTS
1536 is a modern interpretation of a historic story that is sadly still very relevant today. It shows how politics can be deadly and people (mostly men) can take the power from above and think that gives them a free pass to do the same things.
At nearly two hours long, with no interval, I would usually think a show like this is a bit too long. But I found myself not wanting this to end, right up until its powerful climax.
1536 is only playing in the West End for a limited time before Paranormal Activity returns to the Ambassadors Theatre but I really hope more people get to see this stunningly written piece (apparently, it is already being adapted for TV).
Tickets are limited and expensive (I don’t see any available for under £80) but if you can find a way to get there, it is well worth the money.
★★★★★
West End Wilma
Photos by Helen Murray
