The Bread You Throw

Lion & Unicorn Theatre

Playing until 4th July 2026

Reliving her days as a teacher and the time before and after her dementia diagnosis, Emma (Miranda Shrapnell) is stuck in an endless loop, with flashing lucid moments and clarity before she is met with confusion.

The Bread You Throw begins with Emma sitting in an awkward position on a chair, uttering words that are completely incomprehensible. It is impossible to tell if Emma is awake as she mumbles her words or if she is shouting out from within a dream or a nightmare. The line is blurred and almost doesn’t matter. Regardless of which, she is stuck in it and these may well appear the same to Emma at this stage of her disease.

This scene alone sets the tone of the play, painting a painfully clear picture of a patient near the end of her days. Within the first few minutes, without any words, Simon Jay’s script draws the audience in and makes them listen and watch ever more intently.

Following a retelling of her diagnosis and her last days as a teacher, there are clearly conflicted emotions and feelings. At times, there is a sense of acceptance over the fact that there is nothing that they could do to forestall the inevitable, and at other times, denial that everything could change at a drop of a hat. Having lived through one sequence of her recollections, the audience begins to see a replay of what had just happened, with subtle changes begin to be introduced. Signs of confusion and muddled memories begin to appear as Emma starts to feel the frustration and the déjà vu. While recognising in the moment that she had lived through this already, she is also powerless to stop this from repeating itself in her head.

Shrapnell delivers a marvellous and nuanced performance. In a small and intimate space, the audience is able to see the smallest change in facial expressions clearly, adding weight to the portrayal of a deeply frustrated woman as she comes to the realisation of her situation during a replay of her life.

Not only does the narrative conveys the fact that the character is trapped in an endless loop, she is also stuck with the worst memories that she could remember, gradually losing the ability to even remember the music that she once danced to, the name of her loved ones and the things that used to bring her joy.

Jay, also serves as director for this production, makes use of the one exit from the stage as a mean to facilitate transitions between the different events in Emma’s memories. These brief exit and re-entry allow Shrapnell to bring in props and quick change of costumes that represent different aspects of her life at work, socially and as a patient. While this was used reasonably effectively, it was also frequent and creates too much repetitiveness during the course of the show. It’s worth noting that lighting could be used to achieve similar results, especially when a change in costume is not required. Although this was also done, it was used for a much smaller proportion of the production in comparison to the exit and re-entry method.

The Bread You Throw paints a vivid picture of a dementia patient’s struggles and some of the pain that they have to live through. Even with the support of friends and family, it is a lonely and individual journey, making this production exceptional heartfelt and utterly devastating.

Creatives

Writer: Simon Jay

Director:  Simon Jay

Other creatives:  Miranda Shrapnell