Cast announced for Genesis Almeida playwright Ava Pickett’s 1536 

17 February 2025

The Almeida Theatre has announced its casting for Genesis Almeida playwright Ava Pickett’s 1536.

Written as part of the Genesis Almeida New Playwrights, Big Plays Programme and winner of the 2024 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the play will star Liv Hill (Alma Mater), Siena Kelly (Adult Material) and Tanya Reynolds (A Mirror, Sex Education), and is directed by Lyndsey Turner (Chimerica). Further cast announcement is still to be announced.

Ava’s script, which was commended by The George Devine Award for its “sparkling dialogue and savage undercurrent”, is set in the year of Anne Boleyn’s death, and asks whether female solidarity can survive in a world where barbarism and misogyny are state sanctioned.

1536 is the first play commissioned through the Genesis Almeida New Playwrights, Big Plays Programme, and will make its world premiere at the Almeida Theatre, running from Tuesday 6 May – Saturday 7 June.

Find out how to book tickets for 1536

Read more about the Genesis Almeida New Playwrights, Big Plays Programme