The writer and director of this season’s pantomime for grown-ups, Jack and His Giant Stalk, Lucy Hayes, talks to Cultural Dose Magazine about writing and directing her second pantomime for Brick Lane Music Hall and working with her father – Vincent Hayes.

Cultural Dose 

December 17^th 2025

For Lucy Hayes, Brick Lane Music Hall isn’t just a workplace – it’s a constant presence, woven through her life from her early teens to her career as a writer and director. Having worked everywhere from front of house to stage management before eventually taking on the venue’s pantomime script, Lucy knows the building, its people and its rhythms intimately. As Brick Lane Music Hall celebrates its pantomime tradition, she reflects on growing up inside a fiercely independent theatre, writing with community at the centre, and what it means to direct a show – and a father – in a space that feels like home.

Brick Lane Music Hall has been part of your world since childhood. Did you always imagine you’d eventually create work for the venue, or did it happen unexpectedly?

I think I have the record for most departments worked in – I had my first job there working front of house when I was 14, I worked in the office during my gap year, then did shifts behind the bar and as a stage manager when I was at university. I never imagined I’d do the panto but when I heard they were looking for a new writer last year, I found myself volunteering without really thinking about it. Although I’d never written a panto before, because I knew all the cast and have seen every panto for the last probably 15 years, I felt quietly confident that I knew what they were looking for.

Brick Lane Music Hall recently received a Special Recognition Award at the UK Pantomime Awards. What do you think makes its pantomime tradition stand out from others across the country?

I think as a small, independent theatre it’s kind of a miracle that the Music Hall has had such continued success over its 30+ year life. Its success has also been in large thanks to the generosity and belief of the people who have worked there over the years – whether that’s East End legends like Barbara Windsor or Danny La Rue, or the brilliant staff and company who work there today. It’s indebted to, and truly values these people – as well as the audiences who come time and time again to the shows. I think it’s a venue that’s constantly celebrating its existence – that creates a sense of community and pride that I think is practically unique.

The venue has a longstanding commitment to community outreach through its charity. How aware are you of that mission when creating work specifically for this audience?

Music hall is ultimately about bringing people together, making them feel welcome, making sure they have a good time, and that’s an ethos that carries right across from the productions through to the charity and community outreach work, so it’s a very natural extension.

Where do you find inspiration during phases when writing feels difficult?

I can easily sit at my laptop for an hour and not get very far – then it’s in the 5 minutes after when I’ve called it a day and I have to leave, or am making my dinner, that all the solutions come rushing out. Creating environments where your brain can tick over in the background, rather than staring at a blank page, always helps.

You’ve cast your father, Vincent Hayes MBE, as Willy Trott. How does directing a parent differ from directing any other actor (if at all)?

My dad is a nightmare in rehearsals – a line won’t go into his head until it gets a laugh. He’s absolutely brilliant in front of an audience and comes alive: he has to know what he’s doing just enough, but not so much that he gets bored before you open.

Vincent has an extraordinary career spanning the RSC, pantomime, music hall and broadcast. How has his creative life shaped your own?

It was definitely inspiring to grow up with a parent who was following their passion, and to see someone who genuinely enjoyed their work. The thing you probably don’t realise about my dad is that he is as practical as he is creative – he’ll be fixing the phones, patching up a leak or sorting out the boiler moments before he’s about to go onstage, and he treats both as equally important. There’s an enormous practicality to being creative that people probably take for granted. He’s also a go-getter – he’ll make things happen. He’s taught me you can’t sit around waiting for things – you’ve got to go and get them.

What excites you most about British pantomime in 2026?

Panto is probably the only thing I’ve worked on where the main objective is to give people a hell of a good time. It’s accessible, it’s fun, and the main creative question is ‘can we make this funnier?’ or ‘would this be better with sequins?’ (the answer to both is always yes). To be able to bring people together and bring them joy is so exciting.

Finally: if you could give your younger creative self one piece of advice, what would it be?

Don’t judge your insides by other people’s outsides. Oh, and the girls’ long luscious ponytails in the shows are clip-ons. It’s okay yours doesn’t look like that.

Brick Lane Music Hall’s Pantomime ‘Jack and His Giant Stalk’ opens on 22nd January and runs until the 7th March 2026. Tickets include either an afternoon tea or a three-course lunch or dinner, depending on the performance time.

DETAILS AND BOOKINGS

2026 Pantomime for grown-ups Jack and His Giant Stalk