The Marvellous Adventures of Mary Seacole

About Cleo Sylvestre

Theatre: Cleo made her West End debut in Wise Child by Simon Gray with Sir Alec Guinness for which she was nominated Most Promising New Actress. She then went on to be the first Black British actress to have a leading role at the National Theatre in The National Health by Peter Nichols followed by seasons at The Young Vic including tours to Broadway and Mexico. She has performed in a wide range of theatre productions including touring with Northern Broadsides and Oxford Playhouse. For twenty years until June 2016 Cleo was joint Artistic Director of the award-winning Rosemary Branch Theatre. Film: Cleo was in Ken Loach's films Cathy Come Home Up The Junction and Poor Cow and has acted in numerous tv shows from Grange Hill to presenting Playschool and guesting in the Christmas 2020 special of All Creatures Great And Small. She made several shorts for Isaac Julien including Vagabondia (Turner Prize shortlist) was in Kidulthood and Tube Tales (dir. Jude Law) and Paddington. In 2019 Cleo received the Screen Nation Trailblazer Award. Music: Having made a record with the (then unknown) Rolling Stones while at school she recently returned to her first love music forming the blues band Honey B Mama & Friends who have appeared at the Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Ealing Blues Festival among many other venues.