Nigel Slater's Toast announces Edinburgh Festival Fringe run
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
FOLLOWING its world premiere at The Lowry, Salford, in May, the stage adaption of Nigel Slater’s
best-selling memoirs Toast is to be performed at the world-famous Edinburgh Festival Fringe – at the Traverse Theatre – from Tuesday, August 7 to Sunday, August 26, 2018.
Previously Posted: Extra dates have been added to the world premiere run of the stage adaptation of Nigel Slater’s memoirs Toast, which runs at The Lowry in Salford from Tuesday, May 22 to Saturday, June 2, 2018 – with extra dates now on sale.
Based on the British Book Awards Biography of the Year, Toast is the story of Nigel Slater’s childhood, told through the tastes and smells he grew up with – to reflect this, audiences will be offered samples of the dishes and tastes central to Slater’s story during the show.
From making the perfect sherry trifle to waging a war over cakes and from the pressured playground politics of sweets to the rigid rules of restaurant dining, this is a story of love, loss and…toast.
A Week 53 commission, Toast is adapted by Henry Filloux-Bennett and directed by Jonnie Riordan. Casting will be announced in due course.
The author of a collection of bestselling books and presenter of nine BBC television series, Nigel Slater has been the food columnist for The Observer for 25 years.
His memoir Toast – the Story of a Boy’s Hunger won six major awards, has been translated into five languages and became a BBC film starring Helena Bonham Carter and Freddie Highmore.
Slater is currently presenting the programme Middle East on BBC2.
Nigel Slater said: “I am absolutely thrilled that Toast is coming to The Lowry. I have always felt the story would work well on stage and this adaption is beautifully written, warm, funny and produced with originality and great sensitivity. My story couldn’t be in better hands.”
Director Jonnie Riordan said: “I’m hugely excited about getting the opportunity to direct the first stage adaptation of Nigel Slater’s Toast. What we hope to make will be bold and imaginative, allowing the audience to really invest and experience Nigel’s story up close on the Lyric Stage. I fell in love with the book when I first read it, and can’t wait to share it with audiences on stage.”
Week 53 is part of The Lowry’s ambition to host bold and experimental contemporary art that is accessible and engaging to a broad audience. The inaugural festival, exploring The Lowry’s relationship with place under the theme ‘Locus’, saw approximately 10,000 visitors entertained by 200 performers across 63 performances – 33% of which were first time visitors.
The Lowry is the most visited cultural destination in the North West and is increasingly expanding its role as producer and commissioner, cementing its position as a power house for culture.