★★★★

“Max Jones’ excellent design, complemented by an arresting use of lighting is striking”

1536 is definitely innovative: it uses the backdrop of Anne Boleyn’s defamation and execution to demonstrate the impossibility of existing as a woman and the power imbalance exploited by men. Ava Pickett’s debut play, directed by Lyndsey Turner, is a triumph.

We open on an atmosphere of sticky heat in an unspectacular field somewhere in Essex. There is a hazy unreality cultivated through this trope: the kind of dizzying heat that encourages libidinous frenzy. We see it here, as three young women meet to gossip and philosophise, and occasionally, to fornicate.

1536, the year Boleyn was beheaded, uses her engineered fall from grace – though a distant event for the women of the piece – to eloquently illustrate a world engineered for men at the expense of women. With frightening speed, Boleyn is transformed from the coveted woman Henry VIII left the Catholic Church for, to a treasonous, witchy ‘whore’. It’s telling. And what it tells is that men all too quickly will vilify women to vindicate and validate themselves. It’s Simone de Beauvoir all over: men will wreak power over women in all respects, in order to rationalise their sense and need for superiority. And crucially, 1536 argues, no woman is safe; there is no protective status. Not even the Queen of England is immune. Nor is the ‘good’ and pious wife. Nor is the mistress who operates outside martial confines. It argues that women are trapped from all sides and threatened on a very real level by the imbalance of power that stems from the unchecked violence and physical power of men over women – an aspect that feels all too relevant.

The cast is wonderful, especially Liv Hill as ‘pious’ Jane, and Siena Kelly as Anna, the ferocious ‘whore’ to Jane’s ‘angel’ (an anachronistic dichotomy but only in technicality). Tanya Reynolds as the sensible but quietly suffering midwife Mariella is also very watchable, and the two supporting men (Adam Hugill and Angus Cooper) are equally strong.

All the action takes place in this singular outdoor space: a dry landscape, overwhelmed by tall reeds, and a solitary blasted tree. Max Jones’ excellent design, complemented by an arresting use of lighting (Jack Knowles) is striking. This pressure cooker could be monotonous, but instead, it draws attention to the geographical smallness of life for people, and especially women, in 16th Century England; it’s an excellent demonstration of the staticity of their lives.

There is one ostensibly minor, but jarring flaw. The modern vernacular works well, and is a fabulous vehicle for comedy. The swearing, however, is not. The number of expletives were obscene, with little drama or effect. They were merely staples of the dialogue. But they were arresting without power, cheapening the quality of the otherwise agile dialogue. It’s a trend emergent in much period theatre at the moment, and it always seems tacky.

Also, please, can we all agree to bring back the interval?

But these are small problems. 1536 navigates much, all whilst being hilarious. It’s also nuanced: whilst exploring gender politics, it examines how women can leverage their own power through sex, and yet (!!) this is the most easily weaponised facet, unifying men and women alike against the more sexually voracious woman. The world has visibly changed in 500 years, but 1536 questions just how much.

SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER at the Orange Tree Theatre

★★★★

“It is the sharp wit and intelligence of the language that sustains the piece and cushions it from the risk of being labelled dated”

Oliver Goldsmith’s period comedy, “She Stoops to Conquer”, was first performed in London a quarter of a millennium ago, but is still very much alive among today’s canon of revivals. Initially titled ‘Mistakes of a Night’ it is indeed a comedy of errors. Goldsmith himself dubbed it a ‘laughing comedy’ while others referred to it as a ‘comedy of manners’ or a ‘romantic comedy’. The stress is repeatedly on the word ‘comedy’ – as the laughs from the audience at Tom Littler’s festive revival testify.

It is the sharp wit and intelligence of the language that sustains the piece and cushions it from the risk of being labelled dated. Littler’s production shifts it from the eighteenth century into a 1930s country manor deep in the heart of P. G. Wodehouse land. Tucked away in the English countryside we find Mr and Mrs Hardcastle; the former relishing the quiet, old-fashioned lifestyle while his wife longs to untuck herself and see the new things happening up in the big city. Instead, the city comes to them in the form of two raffish slickers – Charles Marlow and George Hastings. Marlow has been invited as a prospective match for the Hardcastle’s daughter, Kate, while Hastings is in tow to pursue Kate’s cousin Constance, who in turn is being reluctantly matched by Mrs Hardcastle to her prankster son Tony. Courtesy of Tony’s mischievousness, the two gents arrive mistaking the country house for an inn.

The main butt of the satire is class divide, emphasised by the way the characters treat one another depending on the (often mistaken) perception of their social standing. The text calls for a heightened degree of acting, which the formidable cast deliver without ever overdoing it. Greta Scacchi pitches just the right amount of affectation into her flame haired Mrs Hardcastle, as gaudy as the baubles with which she adorns the Christmas tree. Scacchi manages to parody and show off her privilege simultaneously, with a cut glass accent in need of a good polishing. David Horovitch is the perfect foil as her bumbling crank of a husband, delightfully and playfully outraged at the slightest threat to his authority and standing. Tanya Reynolds, as Kate, effectively has a dual role, spending much of the time pretending to be the lowly barmaid she is mistaken for. A comic talent, showcased in a glorious scene where she tries on various accents for her alter ego. Guy Hughes is a real find as Tony, the one who instigates all the misunderstandings. His veil of bumpkin buffoonery shields an intelligent rascal, but one with a good heart.

But the one everybody is looking out for is Freddie Fox. One moment eloquently flirtatious, the next a nervous, tongue-tied wreck. A lithe performance, Fox effortlessly switches between the two sides of Marlow, eking out the hypocrisy of the class system but – more strikingly – drawing out the laughs from an audience that hangs on his every word and nuance. Robert Mountford’s Hastings and Sabrina Bartlett’s Constance add a delightful extra layer of farce as the ‘will-they-won’t-they’ couple. Bartlett, in particular, lighting up the stage with her presence.

The performances and, of course, Goldsmith’s script are what drive this comedy through what would otherwise be a fairly safe revival. Anett Black and Neil Irish’s setting has the comfortable warmth of a well-heeled family Christmas, transforming not entirely successfully into the local pub. And we get the feeling sometimes that the sense of privilege is enjoyed too much rather than lampooned. But these sentiments are quickly knocked aside by the stream of laughs. Sometimes gentle, sometimes farcical. The festive setting might be a touch opportunist, but it is bang on target, and we leave the auditorium uplifted and ready to embrace the joys of Christmas.

Tag Archives: Tanya Reynolds

1536

★★★★

Almeida Theatre

1536

Almeida Theatre

★★★★

“Max Jones’ excellent design, complemented by an arresting use of lighting is striking”

1536

Almeida Theatre

Reviewed on 14th May 2025

by Violet Howson

Photography by Helen Murray

Previously reviewed at this venue:

RHINOCEROS | ★★★★ | April 2025

OTHERLAND | ★★★★ | February 2025

WOMEN, BEWARE THE DEVIL | ★★★★ | February 2023

1536

1536

1536

She Stoops to Conquer

★★★★

Orange Tree Theatre

SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER at the Orange Tree Theatre

★★★★

“It is the sharp wit and intelligence of the language that sustains the piece and cushions it from the risk of being labelled dated”