Deli Segal's one-woman show Pickle is coming to the 'Come What May' festival that is running at London's Park Theatre. The show opens on Monday 2nd May and runs through until Saturday 7th May.
.png)
Pickle is a darkly comic one-woman show about a Jewish woman caught between two conflicting worlds. The 60-minute piece is written and performed by Deli, produced by Tanya Truman and directed by Kayla Freeman. The show brings together a band of Jewish women together as an authentic creative team to explore what it means to be a young Jewish woman in London today.
Ahead of the run, I spoke with Deli about the show.
Can you please begin by telling me a little bit more about Pickle?
Deli: Pickle is a comic one-woman show about a Jewish woman from North-West London, Ari, who is caught between two worlds - her Jewish life and her secular life. It's about the joy and complexity of having multiple identities and discovering how to live in the space between them.
What inspired you to write Pickle?
Deli: I found that there weren't many shows on stage or screen that explored the contemporary experience of being a young Jewish woman in North-West London - especially through the female lens. I wanted to capture some of the humour and fun of this world and bring it to the stage.
Is the show based on your own life experiences? If so is that an easier thing to explore when writing?
Deli: The show isn't based on my own life experiences (Mum - you can relax!) but I've been heavily inspired by the experience of growing up in a Jewish community. I think it's always easier to draw on what you know whilst also letting your imagination wander.
Pickle has an all-female, all-Jewish creative team. How important to you was that in the process?
Deli: Having an all-female, all-Jewish core creative team has been crucial as it's allowed us to have a shared language in the rehearsal room and share our own background and experiences. Tanya (our producer) and Kayla (our director) are both Jewish women from North-West London and we've had a lot of fun comparing our experiences of growing up in a Jewish family. It's been essential to have that knowledge in the room whilst making work about the Jewish experience and it's encouraged us to lean in to the specificities - from foods, to festivals to religious rituals to summer camp songs. All of these details serve to enrich the production and make it an authentic Jewish show.
What do you think audiences will take away from seeing Pickle?
Deli: I hope they'll be entertained and energised by the production, and nourished from noshing on a slice of Jewish life.
What's the best piece of advice you've ever been given?
Deli: Success is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.
What does theatre mean to you?
Deli: Theatre means going into a space and experiencing a collective act of imagination. Putting your day on pause and entering a different world, and coming out pulsing with the life you've just witnessed. The best plays stay with you for hours, weeks - even years.
Deli: Come check out Pickle to join Ari on her journey to self-discovery complete with bagels, music and laughs along the way!
Pickle runs at London's Park Theatre from Monday 2nd to Saturday 7th May. Tickets are available from https://www.parktheatre.co.uk/whats-on/pickle
Post a Comment