1536 is the first play to be commissioned through the Genesis Almeida New Playwrights, Big Plays Programme, a scheme run in partnership between the Almeida Theatre and the Genesis Foundation that supports emerging and mid-career writers to develop new plays for larger stages.

Writer Ava Pickett took part in the programme from 2021 to 2022, during which she developed 1536. It has since won the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize in 2024, and was praised by the judges for having “sparkling dialogue and thrilling, charismatic writing”.

Directed by Lyndsey Turner (Chimerica), the play ran at the Almeida Theatre from May to June 2025, and starred Liv Hill (Alma Mater), Siena Kelly (Adult Material) and Tanya Reynolds (A Mirror, Sex Education).

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