If you’re like me, with no idea just who Nigel Slater is, then worry not Toast is still just as accessible as theatre can get.
The Other Palace theatre in London is a hidden gem just through a few back streets off Victoria, it hosts 312 seats, and a better selection of drinks than the open bar at your aunt’s second wedding. As a London native, born and bred, I was amazed to see I had no recollection of the name nor the theatre, but nonetheless that didn’t stop my expectations being blown out of the water.
Nigel Slater’s Toast runs until the 3rd of August and seats are already selling out fast. Telling the story of a young Nigel Slater growing up in 1960’s Wolverhampton, the two act play is a two hour emotional rollercoaster - but don’t worry they’ll hand you a Walnut Whip, an old paper bag of sweets, and a lemon tart throughout the show to allow you to eat your feelings when it gets a little too intense.
A nine-year-old Nigel Slater starts by reading us Marguerite Patten’s ‘Cookery In Colour’ in front of Libby Watson’s perfectly designed kitchen straight out of the pages of a children’s book, though when he finds himself confused on whether duck is game or poultry even I have to sit back and realise that I couldn’t answer that very same question at twenty-two. Though, this is just the beginning, and throughout, a long sock-ed and short trouser wearing Giles Cooper lists more and more recipes: mince pies, Christmas cake, and just what fillings are acceptable in a jam tart (apparently apricot is not one of them). With each of these recipes, Slater is accompanied by his ever faithful and loving mother. “It’s almost impossible not to love someone who makes toast for you,” he tells us and as he chomps down on bread as black as ever, I’m inclined to agree. He’s talking about his mother, a woman who only provides us with a dash of comfort before she passes away. Now food is the only constant and safe bet in Nigel’s life.
From then on things take a turn, this is no longer the happy-go-lucky story of a boy who fell into the world of cooking. Now we are watching a young lad grow from the age of nine to sixteen and struggle with being named as a ‘Nancy boy’ by his father and fighting for affection in the home with his not-so-lovely stepmother Joan. Each chapter of his story is brought to life through the fun and beautiful choreography of Frantic Assembly’s Jonnie Riordan, and though at points I wanted to cry, I still found myself humming along with the sounds of Charles Trenet’s 'La Mer' while Nigel and his mother share one final dance in the kitchen.
With each anecdote Slater tells us, we’re brought closer and closer into his world. From laughing at his father finding out just what he was watching people do in the layby on Friday nights, to crying with him on the Christmas he loses his mother.
Nigel Slater’s Toast is a nostalgic trip back into a simpler world where you were more worried about whether to get sherbet lemons or fairy drops at the sweet shop. It’s also an amazing food-filled culinary adventure to enjoy from the comfort of your own seats. The small space is an intimate setting where you become part of Nigel’s world, and for two hours you are a kid again.
Reviewer - Aidan Bungey
on - 11/4/19
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