Dark Skies Ensemble was founded to provide a platform for emerging creatives to explore and develop their work.

Established by Ellie Jay Stevens, an emerging theatre director, the company initially operated under the name ‘Rural Riches.’ Its inaugural play, titled ‘A Stitch in Time,’ delved into the realm of Verbatim theatre. In 2021, Ellie conducted interviews with women of various ages in Castle Douglas, a small rural town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The production aimed to assess the efficacy of Verbatim theatre in offering a more equitable representation of Scottish rural women. The play, based on firsthand interviews with eight rural Scottish women of diverse ages and classes, challenged stereotypes prevalent in contemporary depictions of rural Scottish women, exploring topics such as daily life, careers, school, and families.

The company's second project involved a research and development week in 2021, bringing together ten emerging artists from Dumfries and Galloway. This initiative explored, through theatre and performance, the experience of solo travel for women, drawing parallels with well-known fairytales like Little Red Riding Hood and Snow White. Employing text, poetry, and shadow puppetry, the project delved into themes of vulnerability, strength, and the evolving identity of women in the modern world. 

In recent collaborations, Dark Skies Ensemble partnered with graduates from BOVTS (Bristol Old Vic Theatre School).

 Dark Skies Ensemble's first public performance, "The Strongest Girl in the World," premiered in 2022. Ellie Jay Stevens and Truly Siskind-Weiss presented the play at Bread and Roses in London and later at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The solo performance explores a woman's quest to understand her late father and her former self. Truly, in an attempt to comprehend her carefree childhood, embodies various personas, including family members, friends, and storybook characters. Through vignettes, movement, and music, "The Strongest Girl in the World" unfolds as a comedic and heartwarming narrative of childhood loss, memory, and resilience. The production earned an Entertainment Now WOW award for theatre and was nominated for an Off Fest Nomination.

Dark Skies Ensemble's upcoming production is "How You Died" by Edith Keays, scheduled to run at the Old Red Lion in London from the 1st to the 3rd of February 2024.