Thursday, May 20 at 7:30 PM
Saturday, May 22 at 7:30 PM
Sunday, May 23 at 7:00 PM
Online via Zoom (all times EST)
Run Time: 55 Minutes
You are invited to the Jewish Theatre of Bloomington's latest virtual production! Join us via Zoom for "A Pickle," a one-woman show by Deborah Yarchun. This darkly comedic look at the Minnesota State Fair, pickle prejudice, and culture clash is directed by Francesca Sobrer.
Where: Online via Zoom.
Reservations: To receive the Zoom link, you must RSVP. On the day of the show, you will receive an email with the link and pre-show details.
Suggested Donation: $25
Talkbacks directly following the May 20th and May 22nd performances!
After submitting the RSVP form, consider making a donation to help us offset losses from the cancellation of three live onstage shows due to the pandemic. To make a tax-deductible donation online via Paypal or for more information on how to donate via mail, click the button below.
Suggested donation: $25
Questions? Email jewishtheatrebtown@gmail.com
Overview
Based on a true story, A Pickle follows Doris Rubenstein and her famous, traditional kosher dill pickles. For the second year in a row, the Minnesota State Fair rejects Doris Rubenstein’s traditional kosher dill pickles. When Doris confronts the judges, it becomes clear that they don’t understand her traditional Jewish brining process. They also inform her that they have “a difficult time judging recently arrive immigrant groups.” Doris realizes there’s more than pickles fermenting, there’s hell to raise. A Pickle is a dark comedic look at prejudice and the power of Chutzpah.
“a thought-provoking examination of prejudice, wrapped in some serious comedy.” - Fringe Festival reviewer
“Sometimes a pickle is more than just a pickle. Sometimes it’s a symbol of one’s cultural heritage, a symbol of inclusion. Such is the true story of Doris Rubenstein’s pickles. In a nearly perfect hour of theatre, playwright Deborah Yarchun has written the story as an engaging one-woman show" - Cherry and Spoon
Talkbacks
JTB will be hosting talkbacks directly following the Thursday and Saturday performances!
Thursday, May 20th: Meet the real Doris!
Panelist: Doris Rubenstein
Saturday, May 22nd: Meet the playwright!
Panelist: Deborah Yarchun
Playwright
Deborah Yarchun’s plays have been developed with the Civilians, Ensemble Studio Theatre, The New Harmony Project, Jewish Plays Project’s OPEN Festival, The Great Plains Theater Conference, Jewish Ensemble Theater, Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse, The Playwrights’ Center, Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre, TheatreSquared’s Arkansas New Play Festival, the William Inge Center for the Arts, WordBRIDGE, and Workhouse Theater Company, and produced at Amphibian Stage Productions, Fusion Theatre, Theater Master’s National MFA Playwrights Festival,
EstroGenius Festival, the Minnesota Fringe, the Philadelphia Fringe, The Samuel French Off Off Broadway Festival, Playwrights Horizons’ Peter Jay Sharp Theater by Young Playwrights Inc., Williams Street Repertory Theatre, and at theaters and universities across the United States and in Canada.
Deborah’s honors include two Jerome Fellowships at The Playwrights’ Center, a Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellowship, an EST/Sloan Commission, Dartmouth’s 2020 Neukom Literary Arts Award for Playwriting, The Kennedy Center’s Jean Kennedy Smith Playwriting Award, the Kernodle New Play Award, the Richard Maibaum Playwriting Award, and Women in the Arts & Media Coalition’s 2019 Collaboration Award. Her play GREAT WHITE was an Honorable Mention for the Relentless Award. She was recently a playwright-in-residence at the William Inge Center for the Arts and a member of the Civilians’ R&D Group. Deborah is a New Georges Affiliated Artist. She earned her M.F.A. from the University of Iowa where she was an Iowa Arts Fellow.
Cast
Annabel Armour is a Core Ensemble Member at Remy Bumppo where some of her favorite roles have been in Top Girls (in 2001 and 2020), Bloomsday, hang, Fallen Angels, The Clean House (Jeff Nomination), Northanger Abbey, Seascape, The Goat Or Who Is Sylvia? (Jeff Award), Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Power, A Delicate Balance, and Hapgood.
Other Chicago credits include Cabaret (Marriott Lincolnshire); At Home at the Zoo, and Before My Eyes (Victory Gardens); Picnic (Writers); Sunday in the Park with George (Chicago Shakespeare); Long Day’s
Journey Into Night (Irish Rep); Angels in America Pts. I & II (Journeymen); and The First Look Series (Steppenwolf). Other credits include Clybourne Park (Asolo Rep); Pride and Prejudice (Cleveland Playhouse); and The Grapes of Wrath (Ford’s Theatre D.C). Film credits include The Amityville Horror, Conviction, and Contagion. Annabel is the recipient of three Joseph Jefferson Awards and two After Dark Awards.
Featuring the voices of Alys Dickerson, Andi Dema, and Corey Hollinger.
Creative Team
Francesca Sobrer (director): Actor, writer, story-teller, Francesca is busy in the Bloomington theatre scene including most recently JTB's staged reading of Blessings from the Pandemic. She was featured in Cardinal Stage’s fall Walkabout Radio Plays, The Women in the Woods. Prior productions have included The Glass Menagerie, Love, Loss, and What I Wore, and The Merchant of Venice. BPP productions include Home, Three Views of the Same Object and Sans Merci. Chicago credits: John Gabriel Borkman, Masterclass, Everybody, and Women Laughing Alone with Salad. She is also very much involved in the Chicago storytelling scene, a recent MothStory SLAM winner, she has also presented stories for First Person Live, Story Lab, Do Not Submit, and This Much is True.
Corey Hollinger (Technical Assistant/Stage Manager) is the Production Manager at Cardinal Stage and a local Stage Manager. He has worked on all of JTB's virtual productions and was the Stage Manager for JTB's 2019 production of Cherry Docs.
Artistic Director: Audrey Heller
Managing Director: Cassie Hakken
Thank you!
We wish to express our gratitude to the Performers’ Unions:
ACTORS’ EQUITY ASSOCIATION
AMERICAN GUILD OF MUSICAL ARTISTS
AMERICAN GUILD OF VARIETY ARTISTS
SAG-AFTRA
through Theatre Authority, Inc. for their cooperation in permitting the Artists to appear on this program.