Following its 2019 national tour, extended run at London’s The Other Palace and earlier premiere at The Lowry in Salford, Nigel Slater’s Toast returns to the Lawrence Batley Theatre as a brand-new online adaptation – part radio play, part animated film – airing from 1 to 31 July 2020.
Ticketholders will receive a recipe card from renowned chef Nigel Slater enabling them to immerse themselves in this sensory and heart-warming play – available to either watch or just listen to – in which Nigel’s flavour and stories come to life.
Several London cast members will reprise their performances in the online version. Giles Cooper, who plays Nigel and is a close friend of the real Nigel, will record his lines in his London home where Nigel lived when he began writing his book. The cast also includes Lizzie Muncey as Mum, Stephen Ventura as Dad and Marie Lawrence as Joan with Jake Ferretti as Josh.
Toast is based on Nigel Slater’s award-winning biography, which vividly recreates his childhood through the tastes and smells he shares with his mother, culminating in the young Nigel’s escape to London. From making the perfect sherry trifle, through the playground politics of sweets, the rigid rules of restaurant dining, and a domestic war over cakes, this is a moving and evocative tale of love, loss and…toast.
The online presentation of Toast follows Lawrence Batley Theatre’s recently-broadcast production of The Understudy which, in a bid to raise money for the theatre industry, reached audiences in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Kuwait, Russia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, USA, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
The cast and creative team involved in Toast will take part completely in isolation. Actors will record their lines at home and these will be brought to life by a sound design team including Alexandra Faye Braithwaite, Annie May Fletcher and Sophie Galpin. Toast will be directed by once again by Jonnie Riordan.
Commenting on the project, Nigel Slater said:
“Toast has already had a life as a book, a film and a stage production, and I am thrilled to see it in its latest format as an animated radio play. To bring the play to such a wide audience is a brilliant idea from The Lawrence Batley Theatre and The Lowry, and working with so many of the original production team and cast again has been an absolute joy.”
Henry Filloux-Bennett, writer of Toast, comments: “I’m thrilled that we’ve been able to bring Toast back to this new virtual stage. We were completely blown away by the response the play had from audiences across the country, and we’re so excited that people who weren’t able to catch the play before now can, and that for those who enjoyed it on stage we can bring the story (and the walnut whips) back again.”
