Date/Time: Wednesday, 1st July 2026 at 14:30
Location: Ambassadors Theatre, West Street, London, WC2H 9ND
Price: £56 per person. Member and guest £112.
Event Organiser: Pete Wells. 7 Wayfaring Court, Safflower Lane, Harold Wood RM3 0LQ
Ava Pickett’s blazing debut play 1536 gets a thoroughly well-deserved West End run. A historical drama set during the year in which Henry VIII had his wife Anne Boleyn executed, it is decidedly modern in its outlook, colloquial speech, and, most potently, impact.
The story centres on a trio of young women: brash, beautiful Anna (Siena Kelly), who we first meet having passionate sex up against a tree; wry midwife Mariella (Tanya Reynolds); and earnest, anxious Jane (Liv Hill). Initially it’s a warm, smartly observed, earthily funny (there is rigorously deployed swearing) portrait of complex female friendships – somehow both supportive and competitive, affectionate and needling. It almost strays into a Tudor Mean Girls.
But Pickett’s well-constructed piece soon grows richer and darker. As news travels to this isolated Essex village from London, the girls learn that the Queen has been imprisoned and accused of treason. Soon nasty rumours are circulating about her supposed infidelities, even an incestuous one; the men of their town start saying that she got what she deserved. With the King as the ultimate toxic masculinity role model – a 16th-century Andrew Tate – those men are emboldened to treat women with vile and violent impunity.
Event Booking
Please note that all bookings are subject to our Event Booking Rules.
The standard, printable event booking sheet is downloadable here.