Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Giles Cooper, Katy Federman, Blair Plant, Samantha Hopkins, Stefan Edwards, Nicholas McBride, Alice Keedwell.
When we think of the autobiography, we tend to find ourselves in the realm of the adventurer, the sports personality, the political fixer, the musical star and the celebrity gossip; we are looking for a hero, for the individual to whom we might glean the clink of inspiration from in which our lives might not only improve, but in some we can bask in the glow of a reflected glory. However, the guide and influence does not always appear in such profound ways, sometimes it can be as simple as one who found their passion in another sphere, that the life they have led is just as pressured, they just found another way to rise to the top.
Based upon his best-selling memoir, Nigel Slater’s Toast has already had the television treatment but it is perhaps in the stage adaptation that audiences can truly get the smell of his success and his passion.
Growing up in the industrial heartland of the British Midlands in the 1950s, 60s and 70s would have been a tough ask for any lad, the art of food was not taken seriously, there were certain expectations, certain rituals and standards to maintain and live up to. Food was a necessity, tripe and onions an essential, lard with everything and dreams of sweets were, especially before the beginning of Nigel Slater’s life, a fantasy thanks to the Government’s continued rationing until 1953.
In that domain it is easy to understand why the soot and sweat of the factory floor might not appeal, the choking prospect of solid and the dependable masking the pride of creation, and as the play is keen to point out, a young lad creating puddings and deserts in a kitchen was not seemly, not looked upon with any sort of pride, rather it was deemed unsuitable.
Henry Filloux-Bennett’s adaption, and under the wonderful direction of Jonnie Riordan delivers in style the belief in creation that comes from the heat of the kitchen, and is not afraid to place itself in the uncomfortable side of memory as Mr. Slater’s young life is explored and finally crafted, from helping his adoring but ultimately ill mother, played with delicate care by Katy Felderman, in the kitchen as a young boy, through to his almost daily battle with his step-mother for the affection of his father and the need to explore his own world; the smell and comfort of Toast prevails.
A simmering tale of a different type of hero, one not afraid to be different and go against societal norms in an age when the heat was on to conform. Toast is a pleasure to be served.
Ian D. Hall