★★★★★ ‘Totally Unique’ - All Edinburgh Theatre
★★★★★ ‘Inventive and Imaginative’ - Corr Blimey Review
★★★★★ ‘inspiring, poignant, thought-provoking‘ - A Youngish Perspective
★★★★ ‘Remarkable‘, ‘Completely irresistible‘ - The Scotsman
★★★★ ‘well-pitched, effective, and continually innovative‘ - The Quintessential Review
Photo by Andy Catlin, Design by Gallusness
WELCOME TO THE JAR.
Here, tragedy floats and the lonely wail of an abandoned tomato cuts through the salty atmosphere.
Come hear the lament of lives not lived, watch the chaotic energy of the search for meaning and try to find the connection between these decaying vegetables and your own existence.
Be prepared, bring a napkin, will you laugh or cry? Who knows. You’ll leave all stirred up but none the wiser.
A surreal theatrical cabaret for adults with puppetry, mask, and perhaps a poem that promises more vegetables per pound than any current supermarket.
So, don’t worry about inflation when there is disintegration.
Pickled Republic is an exciting solo show about our search and need for purpose. Inventive clowning, puppetry, and mask theatre combine to create a show full of “confident absurdity...., pitch-black humour and pulpy carnage”. (The List)
The show follows the tragicomic journey of a few outrageous characters - including a pickled tomato and a potato-headed lounge singer - who come to life to ask major existential questions and offer ridiculous answers, leaving audiences with a hilarious “uneasy queasiness” (The List).
Relish in an unearthly cross between Eugene Ionesco absurdism and David Lynch smoky mystery that explores despair in a most ungraceful way. What do you do when there’s nothing (left) to do?
Created and performed by Ruxy Cantir
Directed by Shona Reppe
Visual Design by Fergus Dunnet
Sound Design, Composition and Song Lyrics by John Kielty
Lighting Designer by Alberto Santos Bellido
Originally produced by Nicola Lawton for Scissor Kick
Production Management - Zoe Williams
Engagement Coordinator/Stage Manager on tour - Geraldine Heaney
Additional Writing by Cristian Cantir
Photography by Andy Catlin
Poster and Graphic Design by Gallusness
(Visual Theatre Consultant 2021 development - Irina Vartopeanu)
Pickled Republic played at manipulate Festival 2024 at Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh and toured Scotland in Autumn 2023 through Creative Scotland’s Touring Fund.
https://scissorkick.co.uk/projects/pickled-republic
Read the reviews from the Autumn 2023 Scotland tour and from our manipulate Festival 2024 sold out performance:
Ruxy on TV! Pickled Republic and Manipulate Festival 2024 covered on STV! February 2024
Made possible with support from Creative Scotland, Clown Cabaret Scratch Night, and SURGE.
Excerpts of the piece played at:
- manipulate Visual Theatre Festival 2020, Summerhall, Edinburgh - February 2020
- Puppetry Scratch Night (Inaugural edition), Assembly Roxy, Edinburgh - June 2019
- Clown Cabaret Scratch Night at Websters Theatre, Glasgow in November 2018 and at Assembly Roxy, Edinburgh in May 2017
- SURGE Festival 2018 - Pitch Scratch Night at Drygate, Glasgow
- Outside Eyes Event at Tron Theatre, Glasgow in June, 2017
- Double Bill Pickled Horatio Creative Scotland-funded development at Assembly Roxy, Edinburgh in September 2017, alongside Melanie Jordan
- Fortress of Lushington, New Orleans, USA - November 2016
- SURGE Pitch Scratch Event at CCA, Glasgow - March 2016
