Berger’s success with her story
 
DALIA SABLE
COMEDIAN Rachel Berger’s story is not unlike that of many Australians.¬†The daughter of struggling immigrants seeking to make a better life for their child, Berger grew up in her parents’ delicatessen shop in iconic Acland Street, St Kilda.¬†
It is this story that Berger recounts in her self-written, self-produced one-woman show, Hold the Pickle, which is back after unprecedented success for its third season. For Berger, the success of the show came as somewhat of a surprise. 
Though Berger has been a stand-up comedian for two decades, when Hold the Pickle opened in 2008 at Carlton’s La Mama Theatre, it was her first-ever theatrical performance.
It is the universality of her story that Berger believes has contributed to her show’s success.¬†”At a time when there is more migration around the world, perhaps the most since World War II, I wanted to deliver a play about them and survival to convey that you can’t always control what happens to you in life, but you can control how you feel,” Berger says.
“Lots of people stayed after [the performance] and told me their stories. That’s really a privilege to hear. What has been said to me, especially by Holocaust survivors, is that they never realised their children understood. That has been very validating.”¬†Further validation came when the show received three Green Room nominations, including best female performer and best lighting in an independent show, and new writing for the Australian stage.
“It’s affirming because you take this huge leap like Evil Knievel to see if you can jump over all these cars and [when] you get to the other side, you think, ‘well I did it and it worked.'”¬†In this season of the play, Berger is reaching out to a new audience, performing for the first time to school groups -— an audience she previously restricted from seeing the show.
“I had it down for no-one under 18. I didn’t want [them] to have to hear this stuff. I am not a parent I don’t know what they want to see and I thought it would be boring and way too historical,” Berger explains.¬†The dramatic change came after Berger was approached by the principal of Carey Grammar School, who said she believed years 10 to 12 students would benefit from seeing the show.
Despite being “terrified” by the idea, Berger is staging two performances especially for schools -— one for Carey Grammar and the other for Bialik College.¬†As for what’s next for Berger, after this season she hopes to take the show on the road, with the ultimate goal of holding the pickle for audiences in New York.¬†”It will get the audience it deserves there,” she says.
 
Photo: Rachel Berger … theatrical success with Hold the Pickle.
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