Dame Judi began acting with the RSC in 1961

It will also be her first time in the role she will play, as the Countess of Rosillion in Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well.

She last performed at Stratford in 1979, playing Imogen in Cymbeline.

"The Countess is one of the few Shakespearean women that I've never played and I'm thrilled to be working with (director) Greg Doran and being part of a big company again," she said.

Dame Judi, 68, joined the RSC in Stratford in 1961, and will be performing with them again this December.

She has gone on to have a hugely successful career in film, stage and TV, and won an Oscar for her role as Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare In Love in 1999.