The world premiere of a new adaptation of Jean Poiret’s, French Toast, a witty love letter to the theatre will play at the Riverside Studios from 3 October with a press night on 7 October.
Produced by Gallic Gang, a company dedicated to sharing French plays with British audiences, French Toast is based on Poiret’s play, Fefe de Broadway. The plot, set in a provincial English theatre in this adaptation, depicts the tumultuous collaboration between a British theatre director and a French actress.
Basingstoke,1977. Director Simon Monk thinks his musical adaptation of the classic French play Phaedra will be his come-back ticket to English theatre.
Paris, 1977. Jacqueline Brémont, a French theatre diva, has always had her pick of the juiciest roles in the classical canon. She ought to, she owns the theatre. When she gets wind of this musical adaptation of Phaedra by Simon, a former lover, Jacqueline is keen to bolster the production with her considerable expertise and financial backing. There are just a few minor details to iron out: she can’t sing, she can’t dance, and Simon has no intention of casting her. However, Jacqueline’s money speaks volumes, and allows her to buy her way in the production.
Rehearsals begin in the Haymarket Theatre, Basingstoke. Jacqueline is joined by a company of British actors: Geoffrey, a fruity RSC stalwart; Faye, a former ingénue with an inferiority complex; Nick, a punk-rocker; and Kate, a second-wave feminist. And from there the play develops into a funny, delightful story of conflict and manipulation as Simon hasn’t reckoned with his leading lady’s wily tactics, the might of the French establishment or, indeed, his own feelings. Curtain-up is approaching fast. Can the show survive the rampaging egos, romantic entanglements and an avalanche of linguistic lapses? Bonne chance with that!
Jacqueline Brémont will be played by Edith Vernes (Molière/Je t’aime moi non plus and Sacha Guitry, ma fille et moi, London). She is joined by Ché Walker (Othello, The Office and Eastenders) who plays Simon Monk, Suzy Kohane (Henry V/ Present Laughter and The Foreigner’s Panto) who plays Kate, Reece Richardson (Peaky Blinders: The Rise) who plays Nick, Josie Benson (Kiss Me Kate and Mama Mia) who plays Faye and Paul Hegarty (Sweeney Todd and The Merchant of Venice) who plays Geoff.
Director Marianne Badrichani returns to the new Riverside Studios for the third time after The Little Black Book and Three Women. She has directed and adapted plays from French writers in the UK for the last twenty years including Members Only (Trafalgar Studios), Three Splits (Coronet Theatre and Nine Star, Beijing), A Season in the Congo (as a translator for the Young Vic) and Ionesco / Dinner at the Smiths (London,Paris). She is an associate artist at both Institut français and Bold Theatre.
