Nigel Slater’s Toast is a story that I, as most people who have encountered it, am familiar with through the 2010 BBC film, and thus I believed I knew what the Friends of Peterhouse Theatre had awaiting me as I sat down to watch the play adaptation.

However, the script varies significantly in tone from the television adaptation; Henry Filloux-Bennett’s play version is conjugated with blanks and clichés. Nevertheless, considering the material they were given to work with and the natural constraints of student theatre, the cast and crew of this production did a pretty good job.

Note: I was also very hungry. I advise not to watch this play while hungry.

“Brookes manages to grasp her lines and shake out some fantastic scraps of delicacy”

Helen Brookes plays the lead, Nigel, as we follow him through his childhood and adolescence. Brookes is clearly a comic actor, and the portrayal of gawkish yet charming awkwardness is a joy to revel in, yet she shines in the most intimate emotional aspects of the script. While these are too few and far between, Brookes manages to grasp her lines and shake out some fantastic scraps of delicacy.

She is supported by a fantastic cast, which elevates the biography further. Amenie Groves curates a flavourful caricature of Nigel’s stepmother Joan Potter. She strays whimsically away from the unforgettable Helena Bonham-Carter portrayal, but Groves is a joy to watch, and she maintains the chain-smoking child-hater as her own. I only wish she could have elevated the script with her stage presence sooner in the play, as the second act quickly became my favourite upon her first entrance.

“Scene after scene was successfully brought to life by the set design”

Her moments with Isaac Allen as Mr Slater were my favourites in the production. Allen is a stronghold throughout, perpetrating a subtle yet effective faux draw of repression masked as certainty throughout both acts. The play was most enjoyable in its non-naturalistic comedic moments, as Groves’ and Allen’s powerful but polar energies ensured they excelled in capturing the audience’s engagement.

The stage, although limited in terms of technical capacity, was filled by movement and sound. I have to commend the directorial team (Liv Bouton, Amelia Barry, Eliza Ousey) for their utilisation of a simple set to manifest a whole world. It is a challenge I often see student theatre reckon with and fail, so it was delightful to see how scene after scene was successfully brought to life by the set design. While I wish the direction had drawn out the fourth-wall breaking elements of the text more, the overall momentum was easily upkept by subtle staging choices. The classic 60s tunes (Anna-Maria Woodrow) that scattered the play also administered the spirit of this world, and music was effectively used under scenes of Slater’s passion to shape a dreamlike similitude of joy and wonder. The whole worldbuilding was drawn together by some fine costume choices by Alice Ward, as the audience were also treated to a visual state of Slater family repression through the muted palettes, yet fantastically chosen pieces, on most of the ensemble cast.

The script is a clear challenge, and not one that I would ever consider reckoning with. Yet there is a clear creative passion behind this project, and a fantastic cast has managed to give it a fantastic portrayal. It is a strong production, and the cast are, at their strongest, absolutely delicious. Toast is an absolute feast.