Fringe First Winner TOAST Returns to Summerhall Edinburgh

Fresh from winning The Scotsman Fringe First in week one and being selected as one of five recipients of  Francesca Moody’s Shedload-of-Future Fund 2026,TOASTreturns to Summerhall by popular demand from  Wednesday 26thto Monday 31stAugust. 

Written and performed by bold new voiceJude Green (they/them),TOASTis a brutally funny exploration of  navigating the Universal Credit system while trying to survive as an artist. As described byThe Scotsman, “It’s a  play for anyone who’s trapped by the choices they’ve been forced to make and dared to dream of something  better.” An unrelenting comedy about starving for your art,TOASToffers a gut-punching look at broken systems  and broken promises, exposing a UK benefits system so flawed it becomes almost laughable. 

Having taken Edinburgh by storm, this is a vital, frenetic and fiercely human exploration of welfare, survival and  the realities facing us all. Drawing on lived experience, Jude Green delivers an absurd and biting takedown of  the UK benefits system and cost-of-living crisis, asking whether we value art more than the people who make it.  An outside eye was provided byDebbie Hannanand starring Green alongside Silent Faces’Jack Wakely (he/they), this chaotic, funny and moving two-hander follows a creative spiralling down a rabbit hole as  negotiations with employers, agents and Universal Credit begin to unravel. 

Jude Green, comments,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. 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. 

An honest, unflinching take on survival versus acting, it shines a light on what it means to pursue a life in the  arts in a world that does not prioritise it. Exposing the ridiculousness of treating survival as a joke we are all  expected to accept,TOASTspotlights those pushed to the edge with nowhere to turn and nothing to fall backon, finding humour in the chaos and the constant demand to simply cope and carry on. Vitally supported by  those who have lived through it, this is a blisteringly smart rallying cry wrapped in comedy, asking why this has  become normalised and whether we’ve all simply learned to accept the taste of burnt toast rather than expect  something better. 

With a captivating performer, edgy writing, a fresh concept and an impressive economy of means, Toast turns  very little into powerful theatre and lands a significant gut punch.Disrupting Stages 

Ground-breaking work Fringe Review 

An impeccably written and well-crafted piece from a completely captivating performer. Hilarious and gut punching! Not one to missLiv Ello, Body Show 

Main images courtesy of TOAST

Back to HOME