Tender, Bush Theatre Review
Photo by Harry Elletson
Written by Kennedy for Theatre and Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
When two 30-something women Ivy and Ash cross paths, an idealized meet-cute turns into a gut-wrenching coincidence. Fresh from being shortlisted for the 2023 Ambassador Theatre Group Playwright’s Prize, Eleanor Tindall's Tender is witty, intimate, and raw.
“I've decided to cut parts of myself out and hide them in my bedroom. It feels like the only option.”
Ivy (Nadi Kemp-Sayfi) tells herself she has her life together. She lives with her long-term boyfriend, has a close relationship with her brother, works at a boujee cafe, and relishes her alone time. But the core of who she is has been compartmentalized and hidden. Ash (Annabel Baldwin) has just bought her own flat and is openly dating women after returning from at period of living in Spain she’d like to forget. As they meet, and timidly pursue their magnetic connection, both women struggle with internal conflicts that make them wary of intimacy. The walls of their blooming companionship cave in from an ominous force in their lives.
This romantic psychological thriller tells a heartfelt story where the spaces we carve out for ourselves and the intimate connections we form are not always safe even when we want them to be. Exploring the complexities of relational trauma, sexuality, and autonomy, Tender knaws on the layered meaning of eating one’s heart out.
Kemp-Sayfi's emotionally wrought but driven portrayal of Ivy is complemented by Baldwin's awkward yet confident Ash. Together, they create a charismatic dynamic that draws the audience into their developing romance. Their ease and charm lend to excellent comedic timing, infusing the play's intensely dramatic themes with moments of levity and warmth.
Writer Eleanor Tindall skillfully examines female sovereignty through a contemporary lens of womanhood and sexual identity. Influenced by the American literature short story The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman which explores the mental, emotional, and physical harm caused by the limited role women were allowed to play in a patriarchal society and their own families during the Victorian era. Their writing sinks teeth into tough topics like self-harm, eating disorders, and tacit consent to get to the raw, carnivorous nature of human desire.
Set Designer Alys Whitehead pays homage to the short story with a minimalist yet all-consuming yellow design where props used by the women in the play and pieces of themselves are hidden behind silky yellow veils and in the crevices of soft yellow forms. The reverberating yellow backdrop serves as an evocative emblem of painful emotion and repressed desire experienced between the two protagonists.
This repressed desire and sense of impending death are active agents in the way Ash and Ivy navigate space. Emily Aboud's direction utilizes space and sound to highlight the evolving power dynamics between the characters. Though there are technically two male characters in the play (both played by Baldwin) their oppressive presence vividly depicted through Ivy and Ash’s perspectives becomes less and less embodied. Gradually receding to voice-over, and then absence. As the play progresses, the female protagonists learn to feel safe to take up space and exist outside of the domineering presence of their male counterparts. In the intimacy created between the protagonists outside of patriarchal influence, they dance, they romp, they rest, and they live.
Though there are parts of this story that could be altered to create more suspense, Tender’s abrupt ending feels like the start of a new beginning. One where all the pieces of a person stored away can finally be embodied and on display without fear but, with opportunity and anticipation.
At Bush Theatre until 21 Dec
★★★.5
