‘Chunky Jewellery’ by Scotland’s Barrowland Ballet embarks on international tour

Two friends, one year, two births, a death, 18 bursts of laughter, 34,000 tears (each), and one piece of chunky jewellery.

It was a year to forget. Instead, performers Jude Williams and Natasha Gilmore co-created an epic autobiographical show with Ben Duke (Lost Dog).

Over the kitchen tables of their Glasgow homes, two midlife single mothers navigate life, death and everything in between. Blending theatre, dance, comedy, storytelling and song, they deliver raw, intimate accounts of grief, resilience, courage and survival — including death, infertility, cancer and relationship breakdowns.

Following a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe 2025 as part of the Made in Scotland Showcase, Chunky Jewellery tours to The Lowry, Salford and the King’s Theatre, Edinburgh, as part of its reopening season.

Get ready for messy birthday parties, an awkward dinner, and a bedside goodbye on a grand scale – with the set elevated into the epic by stage and costume designer Shizuka Hariu (Dekalog; Opera Super Angels, National Theatre Tokyo; Dystopian Dream, Sadler’s Wells). Repurposing kids’ toys as musical instruments, the show features a mixture of borrowed and original songs by Jude Williams, including a heart-warming rendition of “And Then He Kissed Me” by The Crystals, accompanied by a toy Xylophone. 

Directed and co-created by Olivier-award nominated Ben Duke (Artistic Director of Lost Dog Dance, Juliet & Romeo, Paradise Lost) and produced by award-winning Scottish dance company Barrowland Ballet (Wee Man, The Gift), these uncompromising and formidable performers have co-created and delivered an unflinchingly human, autobiographical and life-affirming piece of theatre.

Co-creator and performer Jude Williams said: “Our lives authored Chunky Jewellery, and we can’t wait to share the work again in this new tour. The work is intimate, entwined and autobiographical, with stories that overlap birth, grief and death. It explores the sustained thread of friendship, during achingly, wild, and beautiful heartbreaking times.”

Co-creator and director Ben Duke said: “I’m delighted to have co-created and directed Chunky Jewellery. As a choreographer and director, my work mixes forms. To have the opportunity to collaborate with Barrowland Ballet, Natasha, Jude and the full creative team on a personal piece that combines song, dance, and words was a joy.”

Barrowland Ballet continue with international touring of their shows for children and young people, including The Unexpected Gift, which recently toured to the Big Umbrella Festival 2026 at the Lincoln Center, New York. The Unexpected Gift celebrates the art of play and curiosity, taking ordinary objects and making them extraordinary and magical.

The company also runs Wolf Pack, Scotland’s first ever intergenerational dance company, which celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2026. In its time, Wolf Pack has seen 80 members take part in the company, aged between 7 – 80. To mark the anniversary, Wolf Pack will present work at Glasgow’s Merchant City Festival (23 July – 1 August); and at Gathered Together, Scotland’s Inclusive International Dance Festival at Tramway, Glasgow (2 – 5 September). Further dates will be announced. 

To find out more about Barrowland Ballet, visit https://barrowlandballet.co.uk/

L to R Natasha Gilmore and Jude Williams in Barrowland Ballet’s ‘Chunky Jewellery’, co-created by Natasha Gilmore, Jude Williams and Ben Duke © Brian Hartley