Swive (Elizabeth)

Elizabeth I is the only unmarried woman to have ever ruled England, reigning for 44 years. The daughter of Henry VIII’s ill-fated second wife Anne Boleyn, she was a political mastermind with powerful survival instincts.

Created by award-winning writer Ella Hickson and director Natalie Abrahami, Swive (Elizabeth) premiered at the Sam Wanamaker playhouse at Shakespeare’s Globe in 2019. It shines a light on the ways and means by which women in power negotiate patriarchal pressure in order to get their way. Elizabeth was a prime example of a leader determined but struggling to live and rule as she wanted, and the women around her were also tied down by the male prejudices and rigid social, religious and cultural traditions of their time.