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Tender

 
Laura Tucker Review by Laura Tucker 3 Published: 4 Dec 2024 Bush Theatre Show Dates: 19 Nov 2024-21 Dec 2024

Written by Eleanor Tindall (Before I Was A Bear, Soho Theatre) and directed by Emily Aboud (Lady Dealer, Bush Theatre), Tender is a turbulent sapphic meet-cute searching for stability.

A turbulent sapphic meet-cute searching for stability

Nadi Kemp-Sayfi plays Ivy, the unhinged and unhappy girlfriend of Max with thoughts of the grotesque, while Annabel Baldwin plays Ash, the recently single drifter who visits Ivy’s cafe for company.

The two women command the minimalist space, creatively playing the voices of the male characters and weaving their drama with an urgency at odds with the silken, yellow softness of the space.

When the two strike up a relationship, they are both in need of tenderness. The men in their lives have both disappointed and hurt them, leaving them hollow and fearful. Ivy’s unstable mental state and Ash’s loneliness make for an interesting dynamic, but it’s hardly the healthiest of romance stories.

Focused on preoccupations of London life – expensive coffee, pretentious dinner parties and binge drinking – the story risks being run-of-the-mill, but the unhappiness built into this way of life is sure to resonate with many.

Tindall’s dialogue is nicely crafted and lighthearted despite the intense themes. And though the fantastical body horror elements are sometimes hard to grasp, their presence gives us a sense of Ivy’s desperation.

At its essence, Tender is a meet-cute, but if you were looking for a light sapphic romance, this is not it. Instead, we are given a more realistic insight into two turbulent lives searching for romance in a grey world.

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The Blurb:

“You could say, you might say that my life is perfect”

Ivy has life sorted; she’s got a flat, a boyfriend and she knows exactly where it’s all headed. Except there is this thing that she tries not to think about. The thing she left in her childhood bedroom.

Ash is having the time of her life. Fresh from leaving a bad relationship, she’s got no idea what’s next. But there’s something about her new flat. The wallpaper pulses and sometimes it sounds like a heartbeat. 

Two women. A chance meeting. Giddy kisses they never should have shared. Tender is the story of two people who find each other without even knowing they were looking.

The dazzling and moving new play by Eleanor Tindall (Before I Was A Bear, Soho Theatre) is directed by Emily Aboud (Pink Lemonade, Bush Theatre) and produced by Broccoli Arts and Jessie Anand Productions, the team behind the record-breaking Bush Studio hit This Might Not Be It.