LAUGH out loud lines are not, perhaps, what you’d expect from a play about one of history’s tragic heroines.

But Howard Brenton’s Anne Boleyn, a celebration of the life and legacy of Henry VIII’s notorious second wife, has a lightness of touch and a story that zips along.

And the cast of Lion and Unicorn Players, who bring it to the Festival Hall from May 12-14, have been having a high old time in rehearsals.

“The play’s much funnier than you’d imagine, and no, you don’t get to see Anne get her head chopped off!” said Kat Wootton who plays Lady Rochford, and is “loving the bling” of the sumptuous costumes.

Added Hugo Deadman, who is a malevolent Cardinal Wolsey: “It’s 30 years since I last acted, and I’m loving discovering my inner cardinal.

“The Tudor and Stuart ages are fascinating periods in our history, and I’m very glad I wasn’t about then. Life was nasty, brutish and short for so many of our ancestors. The play is great at capturing the court politics, the power plays and the deeply held beliefs which men and women were willing to live – and die – by.”

Tickets from One Tree Books or on www.lionandunicornplayers.co.uk