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Show: Nigel Slater’s Toast
Society: Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Venue: Traverse 1
Credits: PW Productions presents The Lowry production
Type: Sardines
Author: Chris Abbott
Performance Date: 12/08/2018
Nigel Slater’s Toast
Chris Abbott | 13 Aug 2018 10:13am
It is likely that many of those in the Traverse audience were familiar with Nigel Slater’s food programmes and some will have read the autobiographical book on which the play is based. What made the book – and indeed the play – special was the way in which the links between food, memory and emotion are made clear. Slater’s eventful early life makes for an emotional rollercoaster of a ride for the audience, with some very funny set-pieces that can turn in a moment to heart-wrenching sadness.
It’s an excellent adaptation, by Henry Filloux-Bennett, and is brought to life by the inspired direction of Jonnie Riordan, who is also responsible for the danced sections which beautifully underline key moments using music of the 50s and 60s. All of this is played out in front of the elements of a vintage kitchen (designed by Libby Watson) and interspersed with evocative treats for the audience to savour. The play ends with the preparation by Nigel of his father’s favourite dish, filling the auditorium with the smell of frying mushrooms, and mention should also be made here of Food Director James Thompson.
As Nigel, Sam Newton is touching and convincing, managing the difficult task of being the confidante of the audience as well as a character in the drama. He is well-matched by a talented ensemble. Mark Fleischmann finds the vulnerability and neediness in the apparently brutal Dad, while Lizzie Muncey is quietly devastating as the much loved and missed Mum. Jake Ferretti plays a wide range of parts and is convincing as all of them, and Marie Lawrence does her best to find some redeeming features in the grotesque Joan, although an audience member ahead of me was heard to say “I hate his stepmother even more now.”
On one level, this seems an unlikely choice for the Traverse but there is really much more to this play than might have been expected. Above all, it demonstrates the power of the connection that can exist between an audience and a drama, and it deserves to be seen much more widely.
- : admin
- : 12/08/2018