Marvellous Adventures of Mary Seacole

Mary Seacole was a medical practitioner from Jamaica whose fame rivalled Florence Nightingale's during the Crimean War. Her offer to volunteer as a military nurse was refused, but Seacole travelled to the Crimea nevertheless, where she tended the wounded both on the battlefront and at the 'British Hotel'.In this acclaimed one-woman play, the true story of Mary Seacole is brought vibrantly to life, revealing how this fearless medical practitioner used traditional remedies to treat the sick and wounded, challenged racism in high places and won the hearts and minds of those she helped across the globe.Considered the greatest of all Black Britons, discover why and how she came to be so highly regarded, although she was an immigrant and a woman of colour in Victorian England.REVIEWS'You brought the spirit of Mary to life.' - Zoe Gilbert, Florence Nightingale Museum'Thank you for such an excellent rendition of Mary. It was truly brilliant.' - Clive Soley'Be prepared, Cleo Sylvestre will transport you back to the Victorian age and leave you thinkingthat you had actually met Mary Seacole.' - Dame Elizabeth AnionwuCLEO SYLVESTRETheatre:Cleo made her West End debut inWise Childby 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 inThe National Healthby Peter Nichols followed by seasons at The Young Vicincluding 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 filmsCathy Come Home, Up The JunctionandPoor Cowand has acted innumerous tv shows from Grange Hill, to presenting Playschool, and guesting in the Christmas 2020 special ofAll Creatures Great And Small. She made several shorts for Isaac Julien includingVagabondia(Turner Prize shortlist), was inKidulthoodandTube Tales(dir. Jude Law) andPaddington.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.