History has mostly been written from the point of view of powerful men, the owners of property and wealth. Ava Pickett instead centres her prizewinning play 1536 on three women who meet and talk by a tree outside a village some way from London.
Anna (Siena Kelly), the most sexually adventurous of the three, is proud that men find her incredibly attractive. The first three scenes each open with her having a sexual encounter with local man Richard (Adam Hugill), who gives her a bracelet so that when he sees her in the village market, he knows what she means to him (a possession?).
However, he is soon courting Jane (Liv Hill), another of the three women who, though he’s not particularly interested in her sexually, comes with the prospect of a large dowry.
The third member of the group is Mariella (Tanya Reynolds). She is not yet married but did fall in love with William (Angus Cooper), who married someone else with more financial appeal.
The women spend time by the tree swapping stories about the village and news from beyond, often brought by Jane, whose father makes trips to London. She arrives early in the play to tell them Queen Anne has been arrested, accused of having sexual encounters with men other than King Henry and taken to the Tower via Traitor's Gate. Some men, it is alleged, she slept with are also arrested and killed.
Within days comes the news that she has been executed. In addition, they hear that two women in Colchester have been executed for supposed affairs with married men.
Not surprisingly, the King’s brutal abuse of women is encouraging a wider denial of women’s rights. Anna’s friends and one lover suggest she be more sexually careful. Soon, she is thinking it might be wise to leave the area.
The broad-brushstroke plot paints a picture of a society dominated by men whose double standards condemn in women the very things they do themselves.
The script gives the show a contemporary feel, with anachronistic dialogue that you might hear in a local pub. A fine cast delivers a confident, lively performance in which the female characters have contradictory feelings about their circumstances. Unfortunately, the play moves from a slow burn of nearly 100 minutes to a sudden helter-skelter of developments in the last ten minutes.