PICKLE JAR – MADDIE RICE

A review by Madeleine I. Ronnlund

As the lights go off and Escape by Rupert Holmes, the Piña Colada song, starts blasting out the speakers, the first thing that comes to my mind is the word clever. Pickle Jar, written and performed by Maddie Rice, is clever.

Maddie Rice plays an english teacher trying to puzzle together the pieces of her life. It is about relationships, STIs, friends, love, boozy nights out and dating as well as more serious topics such as consent, assault and mental health.

Pickle Jar by Maddie Rice has gained almost nothing but positive feedback and this review is not the one to fall out of line. Maddie Rice juggles acting as multiple characters with solely the help of sound effects and a slight use of voiceovers, and she does it without a struggle.

The one-woman show is performed on a grey setup with mounds and tiny sprigs that represents all the settings in the play; everything from a schoolyard to public transportation. It starts off with a sketch on stranger danger performed in front of her pupils, which immediately catches the eye of the audience and gets the crowd involved.

The opening sketch ends with Miss, as she is named, giving a reminder of the importance of stranger danger, but then considers the question: what about when the danger is not from a stranger – but someone known?

Life is no bed of roses and this play covers tough issues, events and feelings of guilt. Pickle Jar speaks of the lemons one can be handed, mixed with equal parts of the wonderful, happy moments in life.

The show is so funny the whole audience choked with laughter, just seconds after being so heartbroken the guy at the back had to wipe away a tear. It is heavy yet witty. Pickle Jar by Maddie Rice is captivating, skilfull and absolutely great. It is clever. The show is a reminder of how fragile life can be. However, if life gives you lemons, make…