Anna Burnside reviews a ‘loving celebration’ of friendship with many recognisable moments.
Natasha and Jude are thinking about making a show. They speculate about where the eminent critics may be seated and whether or not beads are trip hazards.
Natasha is wearing a bold necklace: a birthday gift. The pair debate the point at which they stop receiving delicate lockets and get statement chokers instead. Are these, they wonder in horror, to balance their hips?
Chunky Jewellery is full of this kind of brutal observation. Two single maws negotiate the crawling-through-treacle stage of childcare while dealing with bereavement and the other sticky stuff of mid-life, told through flashbacks, song, chat and wonderfully dreadful breakdancing.
There is even some excellent parenting advice. The early stages should be treated a bit like camping - as long as everything is happening in an approximately acceptable way, that’s fine.
A sequence in which Jude (Williams) coaches Natasha (Gilmore, the choreographer-founder of Barrowland Ballet) to ask for help is as funny as it is recognisable.
The framing device of talking about making the show adds an important layer to the piece. Yes, it’s personal, sometimes yucky, often painful. But it’s considered, filtered and processed, not served up as a plate of undigested pain.
It’s also a loving celebration of the friend you phone when you’re lying on the kitchen floor and everyone needs one of those.
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Chunky Jewellery was reviewed at the Tramway in Glasgow. It performs at the Assembly Rooms (Main Hall) in Edinburgh until August 24, 2025 at 13:30 (no performances on the 6th, 12th or 19th). For further details, go to the company’s website.
Photo by Brian Hartley.
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