Ottawa fringe. Olive: a culinary landscape is a superb solo show exploring identity though (delicious) food,

 

 

Sarah Haley prefaces her solo show exploring her culture through cooking by saying that she’s normally behind the stage and gets pretty nervous on stage. That’s hard to believe in this endearing show that ends with a delicious meal for the audience. Haley understands better than most the intersection between culture, diaspora, and food and has crafted a charming cooking show that explores her background while commenting on international relations.

Haley mixes recipe instructions with monologues about her family and childhood and her struggles with her identity. On stage Haley makes marinated olives, a snack of pita with zaatar and olive oil, hummus far better than any store-bought brand, and delicious Arabic coffee. The cooking part of the show has a casual, off-the-cuff feel to it—one imagines she’d have a good bit of luck with a YouTube series. The monologues in between have a more scripted feel which seems a bit out of place given her disclaimer that she’s not an actor, but the anecdotal stories are deeply touching ones about her grandfather, his move to Canada, and Haley’s journey of discovering the importance of cooking to her sense of identity.

Haley’s idea is smart and original. She explores her own identity but also politics and fraught relationships in the Middle East through very good food. Certainly one of the more endearing solo shows at this year’s fringe, Haley bring an intimacy to the show that will touch the audience.

And she feeds you too. Seriously, store-bought hummus cannot compete with Haley’s.