Brave New World for Sophie Ward at Royal and Derngate

The actress, who has had roles in Heartbeat, Holby City and Land Girls, appears in Brave New World based on the novel by Aldous Huxley.

The world premiere of the play is coming to the Royal and Derngate in Northampton next month.

It is a world with no family, religion or war. People are safe, healthy and not afraid of death. They get what they want, and they never want what they can’t have. Everyone is happy now.

However when this stability is threatened, one young woman learns the pain of love and one young man gives in to the love of pain.

Sophie , pictured above with William Postlethwaite, who plays John the Savage in the production, said: “My character in the original novel was called Mustapha Mond and while Huxley foresaw many things looking 500 years into the future, this was one thing he didn’t see.

“She is a world controller for Europe which is a pretty good gig.

“It is one of those texts that is a standard text in English to study. It has meant that I can reconnect with the text. It is very similar to 1984.

“It has been a huge challenge in bringing this to the stage. This is set 500 years into the future and while we are very used to re-creating things from 500 years in the past, it is even more of a challenge as no one knows what the future will be like. I haven’t done much science fiction but it is actually one of my favourite genres. It is all in the imagination and the imagination of the audience as well.”

During the discussion we had, she even seemed up for The Matrix - the musical. “But only if there was no signing,” she adds, laughing.

The production has been put together by the theatre’s in house production team and she is full of praise for her fellow cast members. Sophie added: “It is a very young world and there are some great actors working on this piece. We have also had to do a lot of movement classes and choreography. We have great dancers It is about getting it all in time with each other, which is a challenge for the night.

“We have been having rehearsals down in London but we have been up to have a look at the theatre and it looks superb.

“All of the different media present a different challenge but you do get a great feeling from doing theatre. I do enjoy theatre work. You also get the chance to bond with the rest of the company while you are doing rehearsals.

It is a really exciting show and one that I think will appeal to all sorts of people.

The show runs from Friday September 4 to Saturday September 26. For tickets, costing from £10 to £29, Call 01604 624811 or visit www.royalandderngate.co.uk