Lamesha Ruddock
A pregnancy bump is not an accessory!”
Jumper Bumps is hilarious yet painfully familiar. Bear witness to a 22 year old’s prefrontal cortex developing. Eris and Atlanta, best friends since uni with a dynamic built on shared history and clashing views. Sometimes you need to get read for your best interest.
The show masterfully unpacks coercion and denial reminding me of an are we dating the same guy post, pleading with a complete stranger to leave their god-awful man. It gets to the gut of hard conversations between women, how do you support someone who won’t help themselves?
Atlanta is a proud feminist, firm on not having kids. Eris, her best friend, is a hopeless romantic obsessed with pregnancy aesthetics (perhaps she has seen JUNO one too many times) and blind to the harm of her toxic relationship. Their friendship is tested as Eris spirals into delusion and Atlanta grows exasperated, caught between love and tough truth. Jumper Bumps unapologetically explores emotional abuse and the emotional labour of female friendship.
The set centers on a grey sofa adorned with soft pink and grey blankets, creating a cozy, intimate space. Atlanta, portrayed by Katrina Allen, is often seen writing in notepads or reading When I Dare to Be Powerful by Audre Lorde, grounding her character’s informed, feminist perspective. The two leads deliver a magnetic performance. Katrina Allen’s Atlanta brings a dry wit and brittle honesty that keeps the audience in check. Amelia Rodger’s Eris is agonisingly naive and obsessed, a hopeful romantic and optimist with very weak boundaries.
The playful use of jumpers to role-play pregnancy cleverly symbolises the boundaries between the two women. A striking blue and pink gender reveal palette runs throughout from oversized pink jumpers and hair clips to blue jeans and floral sweaters enhancing the thematic stakes. A deep pink wash and soundscape bridges episodic scenes with familiar, sensory cues, from iPhone alarms to Friends references.
A necessary offering of theatre for anyone who’s had to grow up while holding someone else’s mess and for all who had to go on a journey to know their self-worth.
Jumper Bumps is funny, heart-wrenching, and far too real.
And you get a goody bag of condoms at the end.
You can catch Jumper Bumps from 30th July – 24th August at Gilded Balloon Appleton Tower from 4:20pm (60mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
Jake Mace
Jasmine Silk
Phoebe Bakker
