Siena Kelly, Liv Hill, and Tanya Reynolds on returning to '1536'

1536, Ava Pickett’s powerful play about three ordinary women living during Henry VIII’s turbulent reign, hits the West End.

Summary

• 1536 transfers to the West End with its original Almeida cast including Liv Hill; Siena Kelly and Tanya Reynolds
• They play three women alive during King Henry VIII's marriage to Anne Boleyn
• Performances begin at the Ambassadors Theatre on 2 May

For fans of Tudor history, the year in which Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII, was executed for treason. Her fate is the catalyst for the series of events in Ava Pickett’s play 1536, first performed this time last year at the Almeida Theatre, which deals with three women chatting in a field in Essex. The drama of the royal court might be playing out miles away, but the trickle-down effect of power brings the events insidiously close to home.

The three leads of the Almeida production are all delighted to be reprising their roles at the West End’s Ambassadors Theatre, with Margot Robbie joining as an executive producer. The play is led by Siena Kelly (Black Mirror) as the uninhibited Anna, Liv Hill (a BAFTA nominee for Three Girls) as the compliant Jane, and Olivier Award nominee Tanya Reynolds (A Mirror, Sex Education) as acerbic midwife Mariella, all of whom represent different facets of womanhood yet transcend archetypes.

Reynolds read the part of Jane at an early table reading. “I thought it was fucking fantastic. Back then, the bones were the same, but some of the flesh was different. I knew that if there was ever a full production, I had to be in it.” Kelly had a similarly visceral reaction: “After reading the first page, I knew it was the best thing I’d read in years. I fell in love with Anna immediately. When I found out I had the part, I screamed – I’ve never done that before!”

While the play hinges on the dynamic between the three friends, Kelly, Reynolds, and Hill didn’t meet until they were cast (chemistry readings are usually reserved for screen productions). When they came together, they all agree that the chemistry was “off the charts”. Says Kelly, “I was afraid we’d get fired because we couldn’t stop giggling!”

1536 was nominated for the Olivier Award for Best New Play, and Pickett is Hollywood-bound as the co-writer of Baz Luhrmann’s Jeanne d’Arc. It’s a candid, funny, sweary script, and Reynolds explains that “Ava hears things in such a specific way and rhythm is everything, especially in the scene where we learn that Anne Boleyn is dead. It was like learning an a cappella song. I asked her if she’s musical and she said she isn’t, only in writing”. Hill agrees, “The tiniest beat would change so much.”

Kelly grew up as a history buff and she and Reynolds both immersed themselves in Tudor-themed podcasts to deepen their knowledge of the period. Hill, however, in line with the characters’ limited worldviews, preferred to focus on the text with an “anthropological” approach.

“Information would have come very slowly to these three girls,” she says. “I didn’t want to be overwhelmed with too much outside detail. We asked every question we could think of about their lives from the text – for example, how did they brush their teeth?”

The team also discussed the ‘Overton window’, which is a model for understanding how ideas in mainstream society change over time and influence politics. Hill continues: “In the run-up to Anne Boleyn’s execution, the window moved, and we can see that happening today regarding women’s sexual freedom. It takes Anna longer to understand that than Jane.”

All are clearly devoted to their characters. Anna is a force of nature who, in real life, would be rather intimidating to have as a friend. “I wouldn’t want this quality for myself, but I love how out of control she is and how she feels so deeply and expresses everything”, says Kelly. Reynolds admires Mariella’s “sturdiness” and the way in which “she’s rational and earthy and wry and dry with great one-liners”. Jane, the “good girl” of the trio, is the most obviously vulnerable figure and Hill notes that she can be seen as “lovely, simple, and malleable, but she’s clever in a different way with a really sharp survival instinct.”

All have the utmost praise for director Lyndsey Turner. Hill, who previously worked with Turner on Top Girls at the National Theatre, remarks, “She’s incredibly empathetic and imaginative. She’s the best”. Kelly adds, “She’s so passionate, she really lives and breathes the project. After every lunch or tea break, she comes back with a new idea.”

Beyond 1536, all have form playing Jane Austen villainesses. As well as playing Mrs Elton in 2020’s Emma, Reynolds portrays Caroline Bingley in the BBC’s recent The Other Bennet Sister, while Kelly takes the same role in the upcoming Netflix adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. They found out they would both be playing the Bennet sisters’ nemesis shortly after the completion of the Almeida run and went to the pub to compare notes – both were keen to tap into Miss Bingley’s more vulnerable side. Hill, meanwhile, played the self-centred sister-in-law Mary Lloyd Austen in the BBC’s biographical Miss Austen. Details about the proposed TV adaptation of 1536, however, are under wraps (“We don’t know any more than you do”).

Now that the production is moving to the West End, Reynolds is looking forward to “being back with the girls and having a good old giggle and sharing a dressing room again.” Kelly reveals the news that they’re getting individual dressing rooms at the Ambassadors. “But I don’t want to get ready on my own!” cries Reynolds. She explains: “Liv and I are introverts and Siena is an extrovert. We would criticise ourselves after performances but she would tell us, ‘No, you were amazing!’ By the end of the run, we’d come off stage saying, ‘I think I did a good job!’ She’s such a positive influence and I feel we all balance each other out.”

“I’ve never returned to a role before and having a year’s more life experience will change everything,” observes Kelly. “It’s such a scary time and I hope people can see the contemporary parallels and do the work that’s needed.” Hill adds: “I hope we all question how we would have reacted and consider the kind of society we want to be a part of. I’d like it to leave you speechless.”

Book 1536 tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

This article first appeared in the May 2026 issue of London Theatre Magazine.

Photo credit: Siena Kelly, Tanya Reynolds, Liv Hill in 1536. (Photos by Helen Murray)