Some dishes are made by their accompaniments, and this Fringe is undoubtedly being made more palatable by Indian Ink’s Pickle.
This delightfully heady mix of comedy and tragedy tells a tall of love, death and devotion between Indian immigrants working in New Zealand hotel. The location isn’t important, as the message in universal.
Whilst dealing with some fairly hefty themes, Pickle is also wonderfully comic and inspires as much laughter as it does sympathy. Each character has been lovingly created and crafted, and is portrayed with a passion that is simply intoxicating. There are obviously elements in each character that have been championed by the likes of Goodness Gracious Me, the marriage obsessed aunt in particular, but Indian Ink have shied away from creating parodies and, in doing so, have created a cast of loveable characters.
Whilst the performances are electric, the actors aren’t the only talent on this stage. The set itself is a triumph of design and helps to breath a new level of life into this already vibrant production.
All in all, Pickle is another triumph for Indian Ink creators Jacob Rajan and Justin Lewis. They picked up a Fringe First in ‘99 and it looks like they deserve as much credit in 2003.
5/5
Richard Biggs
