Theatre Royal Stratford East Announces Casting For RED RIDING HOOD

Theatre Royal Stratford East has announced the full cast for this year's pantomime, Red Riding Hood, directed by Robert Shaw Cameron. The cast includes Elise Zavou as Red, Maisey Bawden as Mum, Phil Nichol as Granny, Jodie Jacobs as Woody, Ashley Goh as Bo Peep, Raphael Bushay as Wolf and Luke Latchman as Wolfie.

Stratford panto is back! Bringing you another jaw-dropping extravaganza this holiday season. With something for everyone, Stratford East pantomimes are constantly praised for turning classic stories on their head and making them relevant for our local community and beyond. And this year's festive treat, Red Riding Hood, promises to continue that legacy.

We're taking you into the deep, dark wood where our red-cloaked heroine soon discovers all is not quite as it seems...

With show-stopping new songs, thigh-slapping gags and breath-taking sets and costumes, we guarantee a brilliant night out for young and old alike.

Theatre Royal Stratford East Artistic Director Nadia Fall said:

"Panto is such a huge part of Theatre Royal Stratford East's history, and we are so excited to see it back at last! Each year we tear up the rule book to provide something different to our brilliant audiences - something that's both entertaining and fun, but also relevant to the here and now. I'm thrilled to welcome back Robert Hyman for his 22nd Stratford East panto. We can't wait to see the twists and turns this magic team will conjure up."

Elise Zavou plays Red. Elise trained at the Guildford School of Acting. Her theatre credits whilst in training include Kate Murphey in Titanic: The Musical, Oscar D'Armano in LaChuisa's The Wild Party and Ensemble in Twelfth Night: A Musical. Before training she was in South Pacific at the Barbican and is excited for her adult professional debut.

Maisey Bawden plays Mum. Maisey trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts and the National Youth Theatre. Maisey is a founder and the Artistic Director of Mawa Theatre Company, the UK's first all Black, all Female Shakespeare Company which was launched in June 2021 to readdress the imbalance of representation within the theatre industry, be a beacon of Black Female creativity and an agent for change. Maisey's theatre credits include The Tempest (Shakespeare's Globe), Dr Zhivago (UK Premier), An Officer and A Gentleman (UK Tour), 35mm (The Other Palace), Honeymoon In Vegas (The Palladium), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (Wilton's Music Hall), The Tempest (Stafford Gatehouse Theatre), 27 (The Cockpit), King Charles III Royal Gala (The Almeida) Little Shop of Horrors (Clwyd Theatre Cmyru), Yarico (Workshop), Beauty and The Beast (Harrogate), The Reunion (Workshop), Petal (Workshop-Theatre Royal Stratford East) and Still Lives (Workshop- Theatre Royal Stratford East). TV & Film credits include EastEnders (BBC), You, Me and The Apocalypse (Sky 1), The Sound of Music Live (ITV) and The Wall of Freedom (Film). Maisey's concerts include The Songs Of My Life (The Garrick Theatre), Laugh And Be Happy (Chichester Festival Theatre), An Evening with Daniel Koek (The Pheasantry) and Scott Alan (Crazy Coqs).

Phil Nichol plays Granny. As the Artistic Director of Comedians' Theatre Company, Phil has produced and starred in over 15 shows in the past 13 years including True West, School for Scandal, Killer Joe, Gagarin Way and Talk Radio. Phil is also a standup comedian - he gigs regularly on the UK and international comedy circuit and was the winner of the prestigious Perrier Award in 2006. He is lead singer of the glam rock band Muscle. Previous theatre credits include Everybody's Talking About Jamie (Apollo Theatre), The Machine (MIF/Armory NY), Simpatico (Old Red Lion), One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (Gielgud Theatre) and Twelve Angry Men (Assembly Rooms). Phil's television and film credits include Man Down, Catastrophe (C4); Siblings, Uncle, Comedy Shuffle, Annually Retentive, Broken News (BBC); Badults (Comedy Unit); Holy Flying Circus (BBC4) and Thank God You're Here (ITV1).

Jodie Jacobs plays Woody. Jodie's theatre Credits Include Last Easter (Orange Tree Theatre), Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella (Cadogan Hall), Rock of Ages (Original West End Cast - Broadway World Award for Best Supporting Actress), We Will Rock You (Dominion Theatre), Fame (Aldwych Theatre), Evita (Adelphi Theatre), Little Shop of Horrors (The Duke of York's Theatre), Oliver! (Grange Park Opera), Lizzie (London and Denmark - Off West End Award nomination and West End Wilma Award nomination), Footloose (UK and Ireland Tour), The Wedding Singer (UK and Ireland Tour), A Midsummer Night's Dream and As You Like It (both Shakespeare in the Squares), Cinderella and Dick Whittington (Lyric Hammersmith), Myth (The Other Palace), Disaster - The Musical (Charing Cross Theatre), Carrie (Southwark Playhouse), Unexpected Joy (Southwark Playhouse) and several others.

TV and audio credits include Abyzou (Millennium Media), Talk Sport, The Amazing World of Gumball (Cartoon Network) and Drop Zone (BBC).

Ashley Goh (they/she) plays Bo Peep. Ashley's theatre credits include SHIFT+ALT+RIGHT (ALP Musicals), Make Me Infamous (MP Theatricals), The Wizard of Oz (The Space Edinburgh Fringe), Little Shop of Horrors (EM Forster Theatre) and Spring Awakening (AMATA Penryn). Other works include PRIDE at the Palace (The Palace Theatre), QUEERME: An Evening of LGBTQ+ Storytelling (MP Theatricals), MTPRIDE (MP Theatricals) and Welcome To The Stage (the Stag Theatre)

Raphael Bushay plays the Wolf. Raphael's recent theatre credits include The Tempest and Henry V (Shakespeare's Rose Theatre), Don Quixote (Royal Shakespeare Company), Peter Pan and Henry V (Regents Park Open Air Theatre), Queen Of Chapeltown (West Yorkshire Playhouse) and Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr Fox (UK and UAE Tour).

Luke Latchman plays Wolfie. Luke can currently be seen playing Griff in Cinderella on Amazon Prime (Columbia Pictures/Sony). Theatre credits include Everybody's Talking About Jamie (Apollo Theatre, West End), Dick Whittington (Lyric Hammersmith), Flowers For Mrs Harris (Chichester Festival Theatre), Spring Awakening (Hope Mill Theatre), Twelfth Night (RSC), A Christmas Carol (RSC) and Working (Southwark Playhouse).

Robert Shaw Cameron (Director) trained at Webber Douglas and The University of Birmingham. He works as both director and actor in theatre and television and was previously Associate Director at Birmingham REP. He's directed the premieres of three Bryony Lavery plays; Queen Coal at Sheffield Crucible (The Guardian's Top 10 Theatre of 2014), The Borrowers at Chester Storyhouse and #DR@CULA. Formerly the Resident Associate Director at Birmingham REP, his other work includes First Person Shooter, Just So, Grass Routes: Cuttings (REP), I & The Village (OFFIE Best New Play Nominee), White Open Spaces' (Soho Theatre, UK Tour & National Theatre of Sweden), A Florentine Tragedy (Florence, Italy), and 1.60.3600 (Regents Park Studio).

Robert Hyman (Music and Lyrics) has worked extensively at Theatre Royal Stratford East for the last 21 years both as a Composer and Musical Director. That body of work includes music and lyrics for Dick Whittington, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel (2018 Winner Great British Pantomime Awards for Musical Supervision), Cinderella (the first panto ever to be Olivier Award nominated), Pinocchio, Aladdin, Red Riding Hood and Dick Whittington (with Trish Cooke) and songs for The Snow Queen and Hansel and Gretel, and scores for 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and Make Some Noise. He was also Musical Director for the hit musicals Tommy (Ramps on the Moon), The Big Life (Stratford East and West End), Come Dancing with Ray Davies (Stratford East) and Reasons to be Cheerful (Graeae, UK tour) as well as most Theatre Royal Stratford East pantomimes since 1998. Other projects include music and lyrics for all Image Musical Theatre productions since 1993, Musical Director for the inaugural performance of the World Children's Ensemble (Royal Albert Hall) and conducting a choir of 5000 at the O2.

Carl Miller (Book and Lyrics) trained as a director at the Royal Court on the Regional Theatre Young Director Scheme. He has been Artistic Director of the Royal Court Young People's Theatre, an Associate Director of Unicorn and Birmingham Rep, and Writer in Residence at the Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds. His recent credits include Frankenstein (National Youth Theatre), Wasted (Southwark Playhouse), A Little Princess (National Youth Music Theatre) and Ostrich Boys (Belgrade Theatre Coventry). Carl has devised many playwriting projects with young people and adults and with the Royal Court International Department has worked with new playwrights in Brazil, China, India and Uganda. He is a member of Mercury Musical Developments' Writers' Lab.

To post a comment, you must register and login.