Ava Pickett's astonishing debut centres on a trio of old friends, Anna, Jane, and Marielle, who find this news disturbing and confusing. Have the people forgotten that Henry VIII was so obsessed with his Queen that he re-wrote the country's whole religion to marry her? If the Queen herself can be so easily dispensed with, what does that mean for any other woman in the kingdom? As two-day-old news and rumours reach them and their rural village, the goal posts keep moving, the men's expectations of what a woman should be shrink down, and in the end, all of them, be they the virgin, the caregiver, or the whore' are found wanting. 

Written in modern speech and delivered with superlative performances by Sienna Kelly, Liv Hill, and Tanya Reynolds (plus a terrifying supporting turn from Oliver Johnstone). Pickett lures us in with ripe comedy and sauciness as the trio meets in a field (gorgeous set design by Max Jones) between chores, to swap stories and gossip. So far, so bawdy period romp. But once the news comes from London, and the Queen's fortunes begin to look increasingly deadly, everything starts to change, and a sinister edge leaks into every interaction. It's Anna, the loose', beautiful one who feels it first when her lover (Jane's betrothed) about turns on her. Where she believed she had power in her looks and sensuality, it became apparent that it was never on her own terms. Next is pious and childlike Jane, who seeks safety in the rising misogyny eschewed by her fianc and the town at large, and then Marielle, the midwife who did everything right, until an emotional comment costs her everything. 

What 1536 shows is that it doesn't matter what women do; if the world has decided you are one thing, there's no mercy shown, no grey area, you are what they say you are, and there's nothing you can do about it. 

When I say it left me tired and angry, I don't mean that I did not enjoy the play; far from it, Pickett accurately captures what it was to be a woman of the time, and for all time. It might be set 500 years ago, but every woman who watches this play will see something of her own life within.