Sydney Reviews

If September 8 rolls around and you haven’t seen Pickled, you’ll kick yourself.

One of this year’s surprise theatrical gems, Pickled is both a credit to Powerhouse Youth Theatre, Fairfield and the 25A incentive at Belvoir Street.

On the eve of their mother’s funeral, two brothers, Sammy and Yousif sit across from each other at a kitchen table, a jar of pickles between them, bequested to them by their late Mum.

The younger Sammy stayed in the family home with Mum while the elder Yousif broke away from the family, clearing out to Queanbeyan. There’s a lot of emotional baggage to unpack at this requiem of a reunion, on top of all the useless stuff that their Mum has hoarded over the years and the mysterious inheritance of the dill.

Pickled tickles and prickles as the siblings stickle. The two tussle over tradition, the solid, the steadfast, the suffocating, the intractable, the stick in the mud, the push and pull and pain of parental acceptance, and the feeling of abandonment.

Both boys are awash with conflict, the whale of their hearts harpooned. But Yousif would not let his Queer identity be beached, and swam against the tide of tradition, leaving Sammy in the drift net of duty.

Culture, honour and identity, both as Lebanese Australians and Queer men, are part of their ongoing grapple with the past, as they wrestle it into the present. In the rough and tumble of recrimination, they unravel hidden truths about their family, themselves, and the memories they thought they shared.

Najée Tannous as Sam and Antony Makhlouf as Yousif, co-creators of the piece, are outstanding, their chemistry palpable, creating scenes, moods and character with a fiercely tender lyricism at its core.

Co directed by May Yousif and Hayden Tonazzi, Pickled boasts a simple but ingenious set by Soham Apte,  cleverly cramming but never cluttering the intimate space, perfectly complimented by Elyse Drenth’s lighting design.

Pickled is tight, highly energised and affecting theatre, funny as hell and profoundly moving. Unreservedly recommended.