A Cowes baker who has worked in some of the UK’s best-known bakeries is set to debut his first theatre production at this year’s Ventnor Fringe Festival.
The Night Baker, written and performed by island resident Giles Cooper, will be staged from 24th July until 26th July as part of Ventnor Fringe 2026.
The production takes audiences inside the overnight shift of an unnamed bakery, following a solitary baker battling the pressures of producing perfect bakes whilst confronting personal memories and fears during the night.
Set over the course of a single shift, the play explores the physical and mental demands of bakery work as an unexplained noise outside grows steadily louder.
The production is inspired by Giles’ own experiences working night shifts in bakeries across the country.
Giles Cooper has said:
“The courage to write and perform something myself has absolutely never surfaced before.
“However, after all my strange experiences night-baking in the upside down, liminal world of the nighttime, I had to try and create something to show people a little of the extraordinary journey I’ve been on.”
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Giles moved to Ryde in 2025 and currently works as Head Baker at The Lost Mill Bakery in Cowes, which was recently named among the Top 50 Bakeries in the UK 2026 by the Good Food Guide.
Alongside his baking career, Giles has performed in productions at the National Theatre, Shakespeare’s Globe and London’s West End.
In 2019, he portrayed food writer Nigel Slater in the stage adaptation of Toast, which toured nationally following its West End run.
His screen appearances include Pride and The Lady in The Van, with upcoming work including the film adaptation of Prima Facie and As You Like It at the Royal Shakespeare Company this Autumn.
As a baker, Giles has previously worked at Kossoffs, e5 Bakehouse and Quince in London, as well as Landrace in Somerset.
