There's something cooking down at the Barn Theatre - and it promises to be a delectable delicacy.

From Friday, November 10, Nigel Slater’s Toast will be playing at the theatre in Handside Lane, Welwyn Garden City. 

For those not in the know, Nigel Slater is a renowned food writer, journalist and broadcaster, who has written for the Observer Magazine, and its Food Monthly supplement, as well as Marie Claire magazine.

The play is a stage adaptation of Slater’s award-winning autobiography, of the same name, which premiered at the Lowry Theatre in Manchester, before enjoying a highly acclaimed run at the 2018 Edinburgh Fringe, and finally reaching the Other Palace Theatre.

It received fantastic reviews during its run, and is an ideal choice for the new Barn Theatre season.

Toast opens on Friday, November 10 and runs through until Saturday, November 18. 

Tickets are available from the Barn Theatre via their website www.barntheatre.co.uk, or by phoning the box office on 01707 324300.

Playwright Henry Filloux-Bennett’s loving adaptation of the food writer’s memoir covers the joy of learning to cook with his mother, his deteriorating relationship with his dad, and his domestic war with his stepmother.

But Toast succeeds in capturing the engrossing pleasure of food, which Slater turned into mouth-watering poetry in his cookbooks.

Spaghetti bolognese is disastrous, Victoria sandwich a weapon in his war with his stepmother, and mum’s toast is often burnt. Anecdotes and fantasy sequences infuse fun and tenderness into the story.

As Nigel grows up we meet his school friends, his workmates and his extended family. And his first girlfriend!

Nigel narrates his experiences throughout and, with cooking on stage and sweets and cakes for the audience, this warm story of family relationships, sadness and poignancy, comedy and fantasy is a well-seasoned recipe.

Slater is played by Rob Graham, and he is joined on stage by Susie Major, Paul Russell, and Jessica Wall, who play Mum, Dad and Joan respectively. 

The cast coming to the Barn stage also includes Andrew Read, Chris White, and Ruth Burton, among others.

They are ably directed by Keith Thompson, who is confident that he has assembled all of the ingredients to make a thoroughly satisfying night out.

Of particular mention must be the stage crew who are busy assembling the kitchen set, all of which will be meticulously dressed by resident ‘masters of the mise-en-scène’, Kris and Peter Moore. 

There will be scents to savour, as well as the visuals in the production.