A Ledbury actor will be lighting up the town’s Market Theatre once again when she appears in a West End production of Shakespeare’s Henry V.

Melissa Johns, who grew up in Ledbury and performed in LADS pantomimes as a child, is well known for TV roles including BBC One drama Life and ITV favourites Coronation Street and Grantchester.

From February 12 to April 9 she will be taking on the role of Mistress Quickly in William Shakespeare’s Henry V at The Donmar Warehouse in Covent Garden.

A recording of the play will also be shown at Ledbury’s Market Theatre on Wednesday, May 4 as a National Theatre encore screening.

Game of Thrones star Kit Harrington plays the title role in what promises to be an exciting modern production directed by Max Webster, whose theatre credits include Life of Pi and The Lorax.

The rest of the cast includes Jude Akuwudike (Beasts of No Nation), Claire-Louise Cordwell (Line of Duty) and Danny Kirrane (Poldark).

As well as her work in TV dramas, including Casualty and Doctors, Johns has an impressive list of theatre credits that includes One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest at the Crucible in Sheffield, Emilia in OthelloMacbeth at the Lyric in Hammersmith and The Iron Man at the Graeae Theatre.

She is currently developing a one-woman show, Snatched, alongside The Lowry and took part in Celebrity Masterchef last year.

Johns is also an ambassador for disability in the arts and advocates for better representation of disability on screen and stage.

Paul Graham, artistic director of the Market Theatre, said: “When Melissa was a little girl she was a regular cast member in LADS pantomimes, and all of us have been thrilled to watch her career blossom both as a brilliant professional actor and as an advocate for the disabled.

“We very much hope that she will be able to attend as a guest of honour, and with her family, when we screen her in the National Theatre Live production of Shakespeare's Henry V, on May 4.”