Toast by Richard Bean

“This bakehouse is my church.”

Premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in 1999, the play tells the story of seven men who work in a bread factory. One Sunday night, so worn down from a lifetime making dough, Nellie loses his vest in the mix. A detailed analysis of the mysteries of bread making, unearthing the undisclosed hierarchies, the latent power struggles, the petty – and not so petty – jealousies and rivalries. An investigation into the collective psychology of male night-workers – brilliant, touching, funny.