Ava Pickett wins second Stage Debut Award as 1536 heads to TV
Ava Pickett has won a Stage Debut Award for the second year in a row. She took Best Creative West End Debut at the 2026 awards for her play 1536, a year after winning Best Writer in 2025. WhatsOnStage
1536 was Pickett's debut stage play. It premiered at the Almeida Theatre before a transfer, meaning the production moved from its original venue into a commercial West End house, where it played at the Ambassadors Theatre.
The story is set in 16th-century rural England as Henry VIII moves to arrest Anne Boleyn. It follows three young women, Anna, Mariella and Jane, living in an Essex village as news of the Queen's arrest reaches them.
The play arrived with pedigree. It won the 2024 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize before it went into rehearsal. In her 2026 acceptance speech, Pickett thanked the 1536 team for making risk feel like a reason to do it.
That risk is now travelling to television. The BBC is adapting 1536 into an eight-part series for BBC One. HBO has since boarded the project as co-producer, after the BBC originally optioned the play. Variety
Pickett said she is currently writing the scripts. The television version will play with time and the order of events, alongside memory and rumour. A director has been named for the adaptation.
Pickett came to theatre from television writing. She premiered The Manningtree Witches at Mercury Theatre in Colchester and Bloodsport: After Helen of Troy at Stratford East. She is also developing a film based on the life of Joan of Arc with Baz Luhrmann.
The 2026 winners were revealed at 8 Northumberland in London. Sadie Sink won Best West End Debut Performer at the same ceremony. The Stage
What makes this stand out is the speed of it. Two debut awards in two years. One village story moving from subsidised premiere to West End to an international TV co-production.
