This show stars Nadi Kemp-Sayfi and Francesca Amewudah-Rivers at the Bush Theatre
BY ANFAL SHEYX, IMAGE BY BUSH THEATRE
The first scene of Tender will have you confuse it with Lady Macbeth, as Nadi Kemp-Sayfi walks on stage, hands bloody, confessing that they “cuts pieces of herself off”. It’s hard to tell if Eleanor Tindall’s Tender is more of a love story or a horror, but somehow it manages impressively to do both, balancing it all on a very thin tightrope.
With just a runtime of 1h and 25min, Tender manages to do a lot. Describing itself as a romance-thriller, Tender follows Nadi as Ivy, who, with a boyfriend and an apartment, declares that she can see the roadmap of how her life will play out. Only… something feels off. Francesca Amewudah-Rivers portrays Ash, fresh out of a relationship and new to the area. When she bumps into Ivy, an intense connection forms between the two.
Nadi and Francesca are a joy to watch, their chemistry bouncing off the set and reverberating into the audience. Nadi, best known for The Dark Pictures: House Of Ashes, is phenomenal as Ivy, balancing the character in equal parts humour and vulnerability. Francesca, best known for Jamie Lloyd’s Romeo & Juliet, as Ash oozes charisma on stage, narrowly making the audience fall for her as well.
With a somewhat limited set design, Tender manages to build a whole world. The audience watches Ash’s flat, as the yellow walls behind her pulsate and echo unexplainably or Ivy’s flat, where her boyfriend Max becomes an increasingly looming presence. Both separately and together, the audience witnesses Ash’s and Ivy’s struggles. Ash, who is being harassed by an ex-boyfriend and Ivy, who is unsure of her future with Max. Both men are voiced by Francesca throughout, and this works well, shining a light on Nadi’s acting, especially.
The script is both witty and harrowing. Just as the audience relaxes into the love story, a bloody tank of water appears at the edge of the set, or the pulsating yellow walls loom over the performance. Tender doesn’t shy away from serious themes. In the midst of a sweet contemporary love story, Tender tackles themes of abuse, self-harm and trauma. One part romantic-comedy and one part thriller, Tender balances the gore and violence between meet-cutes one could find in a cartoon book cover.
While it might have been easier for Tindall to focus on either body horror underpinning self-discovery or a contemporary love story, her commitment to doing both reminds us that nothing in life is ever simple and that a beautiful love story can grow anywhere, even in between the cracks of ill-advised flowery yellow wallpaper.
Tender is playing at the Bush Theatre until 1 August 2026.
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