Rising star Ruby Stokes makes her Royal Shakespeare Company debut this month, taking on the role of Miranda opposite Sir Kenneth Branagh’s Prospero in a new production of The Tempest.

Not surprisingly, the show is one of this year’s hottest tickets, but the former child star is embracing the nerves and enjoying the ride -  as she tells What’s On...

Shakespeare’s final play, The Tempest, is also one of his most fascinating. Essentially a meditation on art and freedom, it not only reflects elements of the Bard’s own life but also features, unlike the bulk of his work, an entirely original plot. Incorporating wild storms, foreign lands and magical spirits, it tells a tale of power and revenge, compassion and hope.

The Tempest is a play that actress Ruby Stokes says has been a constant in her life ever since she studied it at school. So she’s suitably excited to be taking on the role of Miranda in an all-new production at the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), performing alongside Sir Kenneth Branagh as Propsero.

It’s another big step on the career ladder for 25-year-old Ruby, who recently starred in Alexander Zeldin’s hit play The Other Place on Broadway. She also earned rave notices for roles in The Habits at Hampstead Theatre and Till The Stars Come Down at the National Theatre. All noteworthy roles and stages, but adding Shakespeare at the RSC to her CV is clearly a big deal to the friendly actress.

“Oh my God, yeah - of course I’ve always wanted to work at the RSC and do a Shakespeare! I’ve been really keen to do a Shakespeare and learn and grow and be challenged by it. And to make my debut at the RSC, under the helm of [director] Richard Eyre and working alongside Kenneth Branagh and the company, is just incredible. I’m learning heaps, absorbing a lot and having fun as well.”

It turns out this isn’t actually Ruby’s first stab at ‘doing a Shakespeare’ - she played Regan in a school production of King Lear while growing up in East London.

“Not long after, I saw Simon Russell Beale in it at the National Theatre and I was just totally enthralled, enveloped into the world of Shakespeare. When I worked there in 2024 in Till The Stars Come Down in the Dorfman Theatre, it took me right back to the time I was sat there [as a child].”

Despite not coming from any sort of arts background, Ruby - whose two brothers are also actors - has been involved with theatre almost all of her life, having started acting at the tender age of six.

“Well, I wasn’t professionally acting!” she points out, laughing. “I was a bit shy as a kid, so I went to a local church group that did stuff in the area and I took to it. I then went to a place called the Young Actors Theatre (YATI) in Islington. As cliché as it sounds, I fell in love with it, and it really helped me come out of my shell. So I went to drama groups when I was six and continued throughout the rest of my childhood and teenage years.”

That drama journey included going to the BRIT School - a free school in Croydon for the performing and creative arts. “I wouldn’t have been able to go if it weren’t free,” says Ruby. She also became a member of the London Youth Circus (part of the National Centre for Circus Arts) and joined the National Youth Theatre at the age of 14.

“[The BRIT School] is a free educational opportunity, and they were incredibly encouraging. That propelled me into the year I did National Youth Theatre - which is also a brilliant organisation that has funding schemes too. I did face painting at my local farmers’ market to raise money.”

The work - acting as well as face painting - paid off. After a handful of minor television roles, Ruby was cast as the younger version of Rooney Mara’s character in the 2016 movie Una. Since then, she’s worked almost non-stop, appearing in the likes of Netflix period drama Bridgerton, The Burning Girls -  opposite Samantha Morton - and BBC mini-series The Jetty with Jenna Coleman.

Humble enough to suggest she’s been “very fortunate” with the way things have turned out, Ruby says she realised from a fairly early age that she wanted to pursue acting for a living: “I just thought that if this is a viable career option, then I want to do it. I’ve loved every job I’ve done, and each one has been very different. I like to think 14-year-old Ruby is pretty chuffed and shocked right now.”

As much as things are currently going well, she’s not sure she’ll ever feel settled, comfortable and “cruising”, but believes that’s a good thing: “The great fortune is I always like feeling challenged. I had to do an audition tape [for The Tempest] and I was just like ‘Right I’m going to challenge myself and learn and grow from this moment.’ I was so nervous because of what Shakespeare is, but the great thing about that is that I felt challenged. And then I auditioned with Richard and Kenneth on a Zoom call and we were reading back and forth - it’s pretty magic to have done that. And then I got the job!”

Which brings her to the much-revered RSC stage, which she admits is another pinch-me moment: “When I was younger and studying at school, it was mythic and like gold-dust coated when you mentioned the Royal Shakespeare Company. So it’s pretty cool to be making my debut as this strong and mysterious character at the RSC, amongst a really cool, wicked company.”

But what about the elephant (or multi-award winner) in the room? Had she been intimidated by working opposite such acting royalty as Sir Kenneth Branagh, whose return to the RSC after more than three decades is making the production such a hot ticket?

“Naturally, I was a bit nervous, but more so I was excited to learn from and work with Kenneth and Richard. I’ve grown up with both their work, so to be in the same room and working with and learning from them is just brilliant. They’re both masters at their craft.

“It’s [also] great to be working with people who are not only incredibly diligent, hard workers, but kind and fun. It’s an honour, and it’s cultivating a really brilliant energy within the whole company. We’re all getting along really well and working really hard towards creating something special.”

The Tempest shows at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, from Wednesday 13 May to Saturday 20 June

By Steve Adams