Fringe First Winner TOAST to Return to Summerhall for Final Run
Jude Green's solo show examines the Universal Credit system and the struggle to survive as an artist.
Fringe First-winning TOAST will return to Summerhall by popular demand for six additional performances, running August 26-31 as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Written and performed by Jude Green, the production returns following sold-out performances in Summerhall's 80-seat Dissection Room. The show was awarded a Scotsman Fringe First during the first week of the festival and was also selected as one of five recipients of Francesca Moody's Shedload-of-Future Fund 2026.
Drawing on lived experience, TOAST explores navigating the Universal Credit system while attempting to survive as an artist. The two-hander follows a creative spiralling as negotiations with employers, agents and Universal Credit begin to unravel.
Green stars alongside Silent Faces' Jack Wakely, with Debbie Hannan providing an outside eye.
“We were already bowled over by the love for Toast, but then to sell out the 80 seater Dissection Room for both days of what was meant to be our closing weekend was mind blowing,” said Green. “So as bonkers as it feels, I now get to say that we're ‘back by popular demand!’ We've had a cracking time so far, and it feels like we're only just getting started.”
Through comedy, TOAST examines financial and food insecurity, the UK benefits system and the cost-of-living crisis, while questioning the practical realities of pursuing a career in the arts without a financial safety net.
The production also explores the tension between survival and creative work and asks what happens when artists are expected to absorb financial instability as an ordinary condition of pursuing their careers.
TOAST will play August 26-31 at 12 p.m. in Summerhall's Old Lab. The production runs 60 minutes and is recommended for audiences ages 16 and older. Tickets start at £14.25, with concessions available for £11.25.
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