DIVA gets the lowdown on Eleanor Tindall’s new lesbian play
BY LGBT POET LAUREATE TRUDY HOWSON, IMAGE BY HARRY ELLETSON
Directly opposite Shepherd’s Bush Market tube, with a long cosy bar and welcoming staff, the Bush Theatre showcases a new play.
Tender, written by Eleanor Tindall, is a love story between a lesbian and straight woman…but it’s a lot more complicated than that! Ash (Annabel Baldwin) is a newly emerging lesbian, starting a new life, in a new flat and new job. She’s happy, despite being stalked by her recently jilted at the altar (male) fiancé.
Ivy (Nadi Kemp-Sayfi) struggles with a history of self-harm and bulimia, her demanding brother, her heterosexual relationship, and her attraction to lesbian porn.
These two women meet by chance in a coffee shop, and as their relationship develops, through a series of coincidences, it becomes apparent that they have far more in common than they realise.
The overall tone of the play is not tender. It’s intense, sexy and troubled. First-person narrative drives the somewhat meandering storyline. Confusingly, the part of both the male characters, Ivy’s brother Cas and her boyfriend Max, is voiced by Ash.
There are some laugh-out-loud moments – Ivy’s foray into a Gay club called “Aphrodykey”, and the awkwardness of both women as they nervously circle around each other.
The sexual chemistry between Ash and Ivy is palpable from their first, awkward, meeting which later results in the best lesbian sex scenes I have ever had the pleasure of seeing onstage!
Go see this play, and decide for yourself. Take a girlfriend. Take a potential lover! You’ll have plenty to talk about later.
Tender is available to watch at the Bush Theatre until 21 December. You can find out more here: bushtheatre.co.uk/event/tender/
DIVA magazine celebrates 30 years in print in 2024. If you like what we do, then get behind LGBTQIA media and keep us going for another generation. Your support is invaluable.
