Following its world premiere at The Lowry, Salford in May, a sold-out run at as part of Traverse Festival 2018 at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and a London transfer to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Other Palace where it is set to play from the 4th April – 3rd August, it is today announced that Nigel Slater’s Toast will then tour the UK. Launching at Huddersfield’s Lawrence Batley Theatre on 19 August, where the play’s writer Henry Filloux-Bennett has recently been appointed Chief Executive, the run will conclude its run at the Crewe Lyceum on 7 December.
From making the perfect sherry trifle, waging war over cakes through to the playground politics of sweets and the rigid rules of restaurant dining, this is a moving and evocative tale of love, loss and…toast.
Nigel Slater said: “With the London run about to start, it’s an extremely exciting time as the words on the page come to life once again. I’m thrilled that the play will continue its journey after The Other Palace, visiting venues around the country.”
Henry Filloux-Bennett continued: “Having written ‘Toast’ whilst working at The Lowry, that the production is coming back to the North of England after its run at The Other Palace is exciting enough. Now that I have moved to the Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield, I’m completely delighted that we get to open the tour of ‘Toast’ here in Yorkshire, starting as it will our 25th Anniversary season.”
Based on the British Book Awards Biography of the Year, Toast is a new play based on Nigel Slater’s award-winning autobiography. Vividly recreating suburban England in the 1960s, Nigel’s childhood is told through the tastes and smells he grew up with and the audience with be enveloped by the evocative sights and sounds of cookery that defined the definitive moments of his youth.
Writer Henry Filloux-Bennett was the recent recipient of the award for Best Screen to Stage adaptation at the CAMEO Awards (Creativity Across Media: Entertainment and Originality) at White City House. The London Book and Screen Week Awards celebrate outstanding adaptations in the fields of Book to Audio, Film, TV and Stage. This year’s Stage category also included competition from Sally Cookson’s adaptation of A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (Walker Books) and Rona Munro’s adaptation of My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout (Viking).
Originally produced by The Lowry for Week 53 festival, Toast is written by Henry Filloux-Bennett and directed by Jonnie Riordan. Casting and further dates to be confirmed.
