Toast tells the story of workers on nightshift in a bakery, somewhere in Hull. It’s the 1970s, so expect lots of colourful language from the all-male cast who have one purpose in life: to get their bread quotas baked on time so that they can be shipped off around the country.
The action takes place in a staff canteen which consists of a couple of tables, a large clock, a hot water urn and two double doors. We are introduced to seven characters at various stages as they stop off for a ‘smoke’ (10 minute break) or ‘half-hours’ (lunch break). The reason for having a cast of seven men is due to union rules. If six people are working a twelve hour shift, a seventh must be available to cover them during breaks. The seventh man is known as the ‘spare wank’.
Blakey (Steve Nicolson) is the shift manager. He’s a straight talker who’s ‘done time’ and is constantly scratching his nuts. Peter (Matt Sutton) is the thinker, he craves meaningful conversation as a means of getting through a shift but when this is not available, he likes grabbing people’s nuts when they least expect it. Cecil (Simon Greenall) hasn’t emptied his nuts in years, and must do something heroic if he is to entice his wife back into the bedroom. Lance (John Wark) is nuts. He’s a student who’s been sent in to cover a shift and uses big words. He has some fanciful ideas about his purpose on the planet that cleverly leaves the audience guessing his true identity before the interval break.
Colin (Will Barton) is ambitious and is prepared to comprise friendships in order to advance his way through the company. Dezzie (Kieran Knowles), is the fool. He laughs at everything and is totally bemused by the fact that he’s moved into a house with hot water. He has no idea how the hot water works but is eternally grateful, particularly as the novelty of being regularly clean has helped spice up his sex life. But don’t be fooled by his character. This is clever social commentary. Dezzie used to work on the trawlers but has had to find work at the bakery due to the rapid decline of Britain’s fishing industry. In 1972 1.2 million workers were unemployed. Homes went without electricity for up to nine hours due to ongoing Miner’s Strikes. To move into a home with hot water would have been a luxury unimaginable by today’s standards.
Last but not least is the gentle giant Nellie (Matthew Kelly). Nellie has worked in the bakery for so long you can barely get a word out of him. Even when he’s on a break he is unable to engage in casual conversation, unless of course that conversation is about bread. Then you might get two words out of him.
Toast is an absolute joy, mainly due to a very witty and authentic script. But this shouldn’t be a surprise as playwright Richard Bean was a stand-up comedian for six years and also did a year at Homepride Spillers Factory when he was eighteen. But the real beauty of this uplifting feel-good play is how convincingly it transports you back to an era when work gave men an identity. A purpose. Pride. The work may be monotonous but at least they’re all bored together. One way of coping with repetitive labour and passing time is sharing stories. But be warned. When you discover what men do when out at sea, you’ll never eat a fish paste sandwich again…
Toast plays a Nottingham's Theatre Royal from Monday 4 to Saturday 9 April 2016.
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