A New Anne Boleyn Musical Is Coming To Hever Castle This Summer

3 days ago

How to get tickets to this Tudor affair

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Divorced, beheaded and died: King Henry VIII’s second sorry wife suffered decapitation when she failed to produce a male heir (the formal charge was infidelity which counts as treason when the king is involved). Though she only lived for three decades, Anne Boleyn has remained a key figure in the political and religious upheaval of the Tudor period, with her husband’s restlessness and stubbornness spurring the English Reformation.

Anne is typically learned about in history books – or, more recently, on TV. But in 2025, there’s a new, very-contemporary way to meet and fall in love with her, right where her story began. Historalia Productions is launching a brand new stage production, Anne Boleyn: The Musical, set to have its world premiere at Hever Castle this summer – Anne’s childhood home. Here’s everything you need to know.

Anne Boleyn: The Musical: Plot, Cast, Dates & Tickets

Anne Boleyn, the daughter of Thomas Boleyn and Elizabeth Howard, was educated in the Netherlands and France in the early 1500s – but her home was Hever Castle. Hidden in Kent, around 30 miles outside London, Hever Castle even served as a retreat for Anne when courtly life was all a bit too much. In a sense, it’s still her home: the final portrait of the queen, finished posthumously, was painted at Hever Castle.

And now, new art for 2025: Anne’s life has been transformed into a musical written by Rebecca Night. It’ll make its world premiere this summer at Hever Castle, with direction by Roxana Silbert and choreography by Alistair David.

‘I am absolutely thrilled to be directing this epic show in the stunning surroundings of Hever Castle,’ Roxana says. ‘Anne Boleyn has so often been portrayed as just a manipulative flirt. Rebecca has thrown new light on this brilliant, headstrong, charismatic woman who brought very radical and progressive ideas with her from Europe, drove social change, and ultimately laid the way for her daughter Elizabeth to become Queen.

‘This is a thriller about women in power and an unexpected love story that led a woman to change the course of a nation’s history,’ Roxana adds. ‘The gorgeous, orchestral music, the epic design and joyous choreography – are all firmly rooted in historically accurate Tudor sensibility, but with a contemporary twist.’

The team behind Anne Boleyn: The Musical: Duncan Leslie, Roxana Silbert, Rebecca Night, Robert Innés-Hopkins, Eliane Astor, Kevin Fitzmaurice, Pippa Hill. (© Daniel Watson Photography)

What Is The Plot?

Anne Boleyn: The Musical will detail the transformation of a young girl leaving England to be educated in the royal courts of Flanders and France to the young woman who returns to Hever Castle and catches the eye of a king. Anne’s continental adventures shape not just the girl but the future of England itself, with the rise and fall of her relationship with King Henry VIII set to change the course of history.

According to Hever Castle’s in-house historian and assistant curator, Owen Emmerson, the script penned by Rebecca Night is ‘a unique triumph’, adding it is ‘bold, intelligent, and profoundly moving’.

Not only that, but Anne Boleyn: The Musical sheds accurate light on an oft misinterpreted historical figure. The musical ‘offers us a rare and enriching window into one of the murkiest aspects of Anne Boleyn’s story: her inner world,’ Owen says. ‘With nuance and sensitivity, it explores where her agency may have lain and what she might truly have felt as the tides of ambition, power, and betrayal swirled around her. That this remarkable work should be performed at her childhood home is especially powerful and fitting. Much of her history played out within Hever’s walls, and this production brings her spirit vividly, and poignantly, to life once more.’

Hever Castle (© Daniel Watson Photography)

The Cast

Emily Lane will lead the cast as Anne Boleyn, joined by Mark Goldthorpe as Henry VIII along with Dona Atallah, Noah Sinigaglia, Kim Ismay, Joshua Oakes-Rogers, Matt Bond, Clive Hayward, Chomba S.Taulo, Rebecca Luter and Jay Worley.

They’ll be joined by a 35-strong community cast from Kent who will act, dance and sing.

Where & When?

Anne Boleyn: The Musical will premiere in a specially constructed 1,800 seat outdoor auditorium in the grounds of Hever Castle from 2–30 August 2025.

Interestingly, Anne Boleyn: The Musical will be the nation’s very first outdoor production utilising binaural sound, which creates an immersive, 3D listening experience. As such, audience members will have their own headset, through which they will be connected to the action on stage. Joining the new music by Rebecca Night and Sam Kenyon, therefore, will be an immersive, original score composed by Sam Gevers and recorded by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.

Audience members are invited to arrive early (the estate opens at 6.10pm, ahead of the show commencing at 7.30pm) to enjoy an array of tasty food and drink options: the lakeside Italian Loggia (available only to Platinum ticket holders); a seasonal two-course dinner in the historic Astor Wing; and street food in the main tent. A full bar will be available in the main tent before the performance, during the interval, and after the show, too.