Interview: Henry Filloux-Bennett Discusses The Virtual Production of Nigel Slater's TOAST

A brand-new online production of Nigel Slater's critically acclaimed play Toast has been made available to worldwide audiences by Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield. Half-radio play and half-animated film, Toast can be listened to, or watched as an animated film, by audiences from the comfort of their own homes until 31 July.

We spoke to the writer/adapter of Toast and Artistic Director of the Lawrence Batley Theatre, Henry Filloux-Bennett, about the unique production.

Firstly, how are you and how have you been coping during lockdown?

It's certainly been busy! I am incredibly lucky in that I work at the Lawrence Batley Theatre with the best team you could possibly hope for and I also tend to work best under pressure. We've all had to adapt to new ways of working, so obviously that has had its challenges, but we've approached this as an opportunity to look at how we work and tell stories. So, while these have undoubtedly been some incredibly bleak months, we've been trying to find at least some positives as we go.

You wrote Nigel Slater's Toast back in 2018 and it has since received huge acclaim on stage. As an autobiographical piece, did you feel pressure in ensuring the play was true to Slater's childhood memories?

Yes, absolutely. I think in fact that concern about being true to Nigel's childhood (and the book) was the biggest hurdle I had to clear when I was trying to write the play. Fortunately, I found an interview online when I was researching locations in Birmingham and Wolverhampton with Lee Hall, who wrote the screenplay of Toast, and that was incredibly helpful; it basically said that you have to forget there's a real childhood and an actual person involved in this and just concentrate on telling a story. That was such a huge help.

Secondly, I got to speak to Nigel fairly soon in the process, and he was unfathomably supportive when I mentioned a couple of ideas I had about the play which were clear deviations from the book, so I soon made peace with the fact that the play needed to work on its own terms.

How did the concept of turning Toast into an online play come about?

We'd done a similar thing with The Understudy, which is the play I wrote after Toast, to raise money for theatre charities in the UK. Having seen how well it could work, I got in touch with Nigel to ask if he'd be happy for us to pick the play up again, and he was - as always - incredibly supportive.

For a show that usually heightens the senses with food live on stage, do you feel the inability to do this virtually impacts on the end product in any way?

That's certainly something the team have worked on incredibly hard, and actually we've just changed how we deal with food. So instead of a few things that the audience used to get in the theatre, now we've created a full dinner that people can make at home, with exclusive recipes by Nigel that capture his childhood memories. So it's different, but I think just as exciting and engaging.

Most of the cast have previously performed in the stage production of Toast. Do you feel this familiarity of the roles helps to anchor the virtual play?

All of them have, yes - they were all in the West End cast of the play. And yes, absolutely - I'm not sure we'd have done it if we couldn't work with a team who already knew it, especially the role of Nigel, which is such a big part...!

How would you sell this unique production to a paying audience?

We've been so lucky in the response this show has got wherever it has been - whether on tour, or in Edinburgh, or in the West End, or at The Lowry where it first started. So whoever you believe, whether it's The Times or the Guardian, whether it's Nigella Lawson or Pam Ayres - hopefully you'll trust that you're in for a good show. And if you like Nigel Slater, if he's been on your screens at home or he's on your kitchen shelves, then this is a story you have to watch - it's the story of one of the country's most loved and respected foodies and his growing up.

As the Chief Executive and Artistic Director of a regional theatre, what are your opinions of the Government roadmap for the return of live performances?

The honest answer is: time will tell. The support that we have been promised was too late for too many; the clarity we needed took far too long. But...we now have some dates to work to and we now have the promise of further support. The Government have now got every opportunity to show that they really do support the arts, and that their definition of 'crown jewels' isn't as myopic as I fear it may be. Our cultural crown jewels don't simply reside in the capital in those organisations whose leaders are paid hundreds of thousands - you find them in every community across the country and they all need support.

Looking forward, the Lawrence Batley Theatre will be producing three site-specific dance shows for an online audience in the autumn. Can you talk a little more about how you'll achieve this and what we can expect?

We were really delighted that we were able to make this work. We were already committed to creating brand-new content for our audiences to enjoy from the comfort of their own home, so when our General Manager and Head of Marketing came up with the idea of commissioning some new dance work, we were all incredibly excited.

We're going to be filming the pieces in and around the building in the next few weeks, and then we're putting them in to a brand-new triple bill to enjoy in September. Knowing the styles of Gary Clarke, Northern Ballet and Studio Wayne McGregor, I'd expect incredibly exciting, high-energy dance - just what we need right now!

For more details on Toast and future projects from the Lawrence Batley Theatre, visit www.thelbt.org. And read our review of Toast here!