Eleven-year old actress Holly Gibbs has an exciting new role. Holly, a pupil at JFS, is starring in Burnt by the Sun at the National Theatre, London.

Written by Peter Flannery from the screenplay by Nikita Mikhalkov and Rustam Ibragimbekov, Burnt by the Sun is set at the beginning of Stalin’s Great Terror and portrays a brutal future encroaching upon an upper-class family. The production opened earlier this month. Holly plays Nadia, the daughter of the female protagonist.

Holly, who starred alongside Emma Thompson and Colin Firth in hit film Nanny McPhee, tells People: “This is one of the biggest things I’ve done. It’s incredible. Seeing a sea of faces watching you is so exciting.”

She shares the part and performs two shows a week. “School has been really supportive as I’ve missed quite a lot due to rehearsals, but now the shows are in the evening, I’m not missing as much.

“A few of my friends are going to come and watch me.”

Holly attends Centre Stage drama school in Southgate, north London, and hopes to become a professional actress. “That would be my life dream.”

She lives in Wembley, Middlesex.