Tanat Theatre celebrates its 100th production with heartfelt new play Toast!
Tanat Theatre proudly marks a remarkable milestone with its 100th production, the premiere of Toast!, an original and deeply moving two-character play that explores love, memory, and the fragile bonds between generations.
Set in a small, timeworn flat on the edge of a northern town, Toast! introduces audiences to Edna, an 82-year-old grandmother living alone, surrounded by relics of a life both cherished and unfinished. When her grandson Jack, now in his thirties, returns after years away, a casual visit over tea and toast slowly unravels into a tender and gently humorous exploration of family, loss, and reconciliation.
As stories are told and long-held secrets are revealed, both Edna and Jack confront their pasts, their disappointments, and the enduring, complicated nature of love. Toast! is an intimate and poignant reflection on the everyday moments that define a family’s legacy.
This special production stars Gaynor Richfield as Edna and Ben Vaughan as Jack, under the direction of Tanat Theatre’s creative team.
Performances will be held at the Green School Theatre, Llanrhaeadr, at 7.30pm on:
Friday & Saturday, 7–8 November
Friday & Saturday, 14–15 November
Tickets are priced at £10 for adults and £5 for children, available now.
To book, please contact Izzy Roberts on 01691 860398, or visit one of the following local outlets:
Paper Shop & Greatorex Stores, Llanrhaeadr Ym Mochnant
Siop Eirianfa, Penybontfawr
Upstairs Downstairs, Oswestry
About Tanat Theatre
Tanat Theatre has been a cornerstone of community performance for decades, bringing stories of heart, humour, and humanity to local audiences. With Toast!, the company proudly celebrates its 100th production, honouring its rich tradition of storytelling and its enduring connection to the people of Mid Wales.
Gaynor Richfield left the Convent School in Wrexham (which sadly isn’t there anymore!) to study Drama in London on a three-year course. After qualifying as a Drama teacher, she earned her diploma covering just about every aspect of theatre — from Acting to Production. She then spent two years as Head of Drama at a secondary school in Manchester, gaining her Ministry Recognition, before deciding that life on stage was calling. So, she swapped the classroom for the professional theatre world.
Over the next twenty years, Gaynor performed all over the country in just about every kind of production — from Shakespeare to pantomime, farce to thrillers — and even enjoyed a long run in London’s West End.
By 1981, Gaynor and her late husband Edwin were living at the Old Mill in Penybont L.E., where she had the inspired idea to direct Under Milk Wood with local residents. The production went ahead in 1982 — and that’s how Tanat Theatre was born!
Since then, over the past forty-three years, Gaynor has gone on to direct all of the theatre’s main productions.
Ben Vaughan is a born and bred Llanrhaeadr lad and has been involved with Tanat Theatre since the age of 6. Having been taught by Gaynor over years he has been played many roles within the company including Actor, Writer, Director, Stage Management and Front of House. When Ben moved away from the area to go to University he stayed interested in theatre and even did a season performing at the Edinburgh Fringe with a group of friends. Although work and life has moved Ben away from the area he still loves to return to the stage every now and then when he can!
