Meet the cast of the UK’s best socially-distanced, interactive, Covid-friendly panto you are ever likely to see.
Jack – Hayley Cusick
(also the co-writer and director)
Welcome back Hayley, a Puzzlewood regular known for her performances as Witch in Macbeth, Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Nurse in Romeo and Juliet for Butterfly Theatre.
She trained at ArtsEd and most recently appeared in Coronation Street as Cherry. Hayley is an immersive and interactive performer, her work has taken her to caves, castles, breweries and many more.
She may have worked all over the world, but she is ecstatic to be returning to Puzzlewood for a good old panto.
Acting credits include; A Christmas Carol, American Drama Group Europe, Dracula, TNT Theatre, D'Artagnan, Forum Teatro. Directing credits include: We Are Human, Online media, Daybreak, The Musical, Tristan Bates, Nevermore The Musical, The Courtyard Theatre, With or Without EU, Bread and Roses, The 1033 Project, The Last Refuge, The Vagina Monologues, The Bussey Building, as well as having written and directed Angels In Heels at the Edinburgh Fringe.
French Bean Seller/Giant’s wife (Panto Dame)/Back end of Boris the Cow – Stuart Vincent
Stuart is almost a regular at Puzzlewood performances and always proves popular with audiences, many remember his portrayal of Lysander and Flute in A Midsummer Night's Dream for Butterfly Theatre.
Stuart studied at Arts Educational Schools London.
His theatre credits include the recent International and UK tour of The Kite Runner. He has been in a range of TV commercials for BBC, E4, PayPal, TUI and Dubizzle (UAE).
In 2019, Stuart was part of a short film called Good Luck which won Best Cinematography at the British Independent Film Festival Awards.
When not acting, Stuart is a Director and Choreographer. He is part of a film company which is finishing up their first ever feature film When the Screaming Starts.
Jack’s Mum - Helena Devereux
Helena trained at East 15 Acting School. You can blame her confusing accent on her Northern English parents bringing her up in beautiful North Wales, creating a life-long identity crisis.
Helena is co-founder of Ceridwen Theatre Company. Her producing and performing work with Ceridwen takes her all over the UK and shows include The Snow Queen, Albany Theatre, Neverland Underground, Clearwell Caves, What Remains of Richard?, Bosworth Battlefield, Mametz Wood, Churchill Theatre.
Other theatre work includes A Midsummer Night's Dream, Ludlow Assembly Rooms, Mermaid, The Swan Theatre, Under My Thumb, Greenwich Theatre.
Screen work includes; feature film Yesterday directed by Danny Boyle, Pitching In directed by Reece Dinsdale for BBC One and BBC Wales and mockumentary short film Swimming.
Giant & Front end of Boris the Cow - Sam Wright
Samuel has spent the past seven years touring the world and many of his Christmases performing in panto. From Japan to Germany and from China to the Isle of Man and most of the UK, most recently Sam performed as the Genie of the lamp in Aladdin out in sunny Dubai pre lockdown.
Since then, he’s done an audio-book, short film and been part of Wonderful Beasts lockdown tales podcast. Samuel is thrilled to be of this pantomime experience as it finishes the year on high.
He’s also really excited to be working, in such a marvellous setting and getting to showcase his size 14 feet along with a booming FEE FI FO FUM.
Co-Writer - Caroline Colomei
Caroline is delighted to be writing for Jack and the Beanstalk. She previously appeared at Puzzlewood as Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth.