The reign of King Henry VIII and the impact of his marriage to Anne Boleyn have proved a ripe ground for writers. Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy examined events from Thomas Cromwell’s perspective, Robert Bolt’s A Man for All Seasons, which heads to the West End after a national tour, took Thomas More’s viewpoint and William Shakespeare, collaborating with John Fletcher, gave us the King’s own take. Beyond those select examples, there are innumerable plays, books, television programmes, films and podcasts about the marriage.
Ava Pickett’s stunning new play at the Almeida, directed by Lyndsey Turner, subverts the Tudor period drama genre and looks at events from the perspective of three ordinary unmarried women in Essex: Anna (Siena Kelly), Mariella (Tanya Reynolds) and Jane (Liv Hill). They live a world away from royalty and religious dignitaries – so far away that updates about Anne Boleyn’s arrest and trial come to them in dribs and drabs, fed to them only when Jane’s father returns from London with news that is by then two or three days old.
The trio watch on as the escalating tensions in Henry’s court in London are mirrored in the rise of misogyny among local men in a society already weighted against women who have no power and little autonomy. The modern parallels are clear even without Pickett’s decision to use modern language which, as well as being incredibly funny, acts to accentuate the play’s themes, such as when Anna is branded a ‘fucking tease’ by a married man who sees her only as an object to possess.
Regal events are echoed in the everyday with Anna and Jane as proxies for Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour, Henry’s next wife. You see, in embracing her sexuality, Anna has been enjoying flings with Richard (Adam Hugill), who she discovers is now engaged to Jane.
Kelly delivers a searing performance as the anti-hero, Anna, who initially defines her worth by the power she has over men on account of her looks, until the male rhetoric surrounding Anne Boleyn’s arrest has real-life consequences closer to home. You see her face slip as she hears news of two women having been burnt to death by men for alleged adultery in nearby Colchester.
Reynolds captures the melancholy that lies just below the surface of Mariella, for whom society’s structures have left her mourning her lost love for William (Angus Cooper) while being forced to act as midwife to his wife. Meanwhile, the innocence of Hill’s Jane is all the more tragic because you see before her how things will end.
Max Jones’s striking set – a dirt path in an overgrown corner in a field of wild grass and thistles – shifts under Jack Knowles’s backlighting. Knowles, with Tim Lutkin as lighting design concept collaborator, gives us the searing heat of day, the soft light of summer evenings and red panic in the night sky.
Though the plot lines become a little busy towards the end, Turner manages to keep things under control so that in the race towards the climax, you find yourself holding your breath.
Rating: ★★★★★ (Excellent)
