PICKLED REPUBLIC Will Embark on Scottish Tour

Acclaimed creative Ruxy Cantir is set to take her tragicomic solo show Pickled Republic on a Scottish tour this Autumn, presented by Scissor Kick. Puppets, produce, and phantasmagoria combine in this confidently absurd production, as audiences are invited to relish in an unearthly cross between Eugene Ionesco absurdism and David Lynch smoky mystery that explores despair and purpose in the most ungraceful way.

Welcome to the jar – here, tragedy floats in the salty atmosphere. As the contents of the jar begin to go off and rot, we meet a series of pickled vegetables – including a pickled tomato and a potato-headed lounge singer – who come to life to ask major existential questions and offer ridiculous answers. As putrefaction engulfs the jar, the characters lament on lives not lived, reckoning with their inevitable plight through their last hurrahs. Be prepared to witness the chaotic energy of the search for meaning and try to find the connection between these decaying vegetables and your own existence. You’ll leave all stirred up, but none the wiser.

Moldova-born, US-trained, and Glasgow-based visual theatre maker Ruxy strives to create an imaginative, intensity-filled environment that utilises the power of physical theatre to confront the overwhelming feelings of dread and despair in a funny and inquisitive manner. Since moving to Scotland in 2015, Ruxy has been awarded numerous grants to develop new indoor and outdoor work, including the 2021 APA/Eden Court/Capital Theatres Early Years Christmas Performance Commission, the Inaugural SURGE Street Theatre Bursary, and the ScotRail Foundation/Foundation Scotland Cultural Arts Grant. After the success of their Scottish tour of Two in a Barrel, Ruxy and Scissor Kick are delighted to be collaborating again on Pickled Republic, which has been awarded Creative Scotland Touring Funding for Theatre and Dance for this Autumn tour.

Ruxy Cantir says, Pickled Republic was inspired by an absurdly funny event at a funeral in my native Moldova, which was a reminder that we live in a constantly paradoxical space where tragedy and comedy collide. The show explores our constant search for meaning and purpose alongside our ridiculous reactions to the reality of death. 

After years of feeling adrift and afraid during the pandemic, we need some catharsis to deal with some major reckonings the pandemic has unearthed. This completely bonkers show set as a cabaret in an increasingly mouldy jar with pickled veg characters provides a humorous and outrageous world where we can safely wrestle with questions the pandemic has raised for some of us: what gives meaning and purpose to our lives? And what is our relationship to time passing vis-a-vis (un)fulfilment?

This absurdly riotous cabaret explores our search and need for purpose, teaming inventive clowning, puppetry, and mask theatre to create a stirring spectacle of pitch-black humour and pulpy carnage. Come and witness a performance that promises more vegetables per pound than any current supermarket – there’s no need to worry about inflation when there’s disintegration.

Tour Dates

Thursday 21st September 2023             Civic House, 26 Civic Street, Glasgow, G4 9RH
 

Saturday 23rd September 2023              Byre Theatre, Abbey St, St Andrews, KY16 9LA 

Friday 30th September 2023                   Carradale Village Hall, Kintyre, PA28 6SB

Thursday 5th October 2023 The Lemon Tree, 5 West North St, Aberdeen, AB24 5AT 

Sunday 8th October 2023                        The Rockfield Centre, Rockfield Brae, Oban, PA34 5DQ

Wednesday 11th October 2023 An Tobar & Mull Theatre, Argyll Terrace, Tobermory, PA75 6PB 

Friday 13th - Saturday 14th October      Assembly Roxy, 2 Roxburgh Place, Edinburgh, EH8 9SU

2023 

Wednesday 18th October 2023              Joan Knight Studio, Perth Theatre, Mill Street, Perth, PH1 5HZ

Saturday 21st October 2023                   Dunoon Burgh Hall, 195 Argyll St, Dunoon, PA23 7DD

Tuesday 24th October 2023                    Reconnect Regal Theatre, 24 - 34 North Bridge St, Bathgate,

                                                                     EH48 4PS

Thursday 26th October 2023                  Dumfries and Galloway Arts at Eskdalemuir Community Hub,   

                                                                    The School, Eskdalemuir, Langholm, DG13 0QJ

Saturday 28th October 2023                  Strathearn Arts, 6 Comrie Street, Crieff, PH7 4AX

To post a comment, you must register and login.