Tender – Bush Theatre review

Francesca Amewudah-Rivers as Ash

A carnivorous, dreamlike sapphic romance with a side of body horror

The play, described as a “story of two women who find each other without knowing they were looking”, has made the transition to the larger main space with style and Director Emily Aboud uses every inch of that space to offer us a love story with a difference.

That difference is the context which is surrealist psychological thriller with echoes ranging from modern French horror cinema to Roman Polanski’s 1964 masterpiece Repulsion, Edgar Allan Poe and much else.

We meet Ivy whose entrance with blood stained hands immediately sets this on a non-naturalistic track we may not have expected.

Nadi Kemp-Sayfi as Ivy

As played by Nadi Kemp-Sayfi, Ivy is nervy, troubled, not entirely at ease in her relationship with her boyfriend whose gritty physicality is beginning to trouble her, but is nonetheless seemingly holding it all together; as she puts it, “everything is in place, I can see how my life will pan out…”

Then there’s Ash, newly single, having split with her (male) partner and now relishing her independence and same sex encounters. She moves into a new flat and is free to behave as she wishes with no-one else to please or be inhibited by.

The flat though, is decidedly weird and the pattern on the wallpaper isn’t quite “right”, the walls themselves ripple and pulse while a thumping beat intrudes. Francesca Amewudah-Rivers plays Ash with a swagger at first, she is confident and relishing that new found freedom.

When Ash ventures into the upmarket coffee shop where Ivy works, there is a moment between the two, half acknowledged but neatly underscored when Ivy gives Ash a loyalty card and stamps it three times in a small act of generosity.

From there on the drawn-out seduction which forms the core of the piece takes off and Aboud handles it with delicacy and real power. Things go slowly at first, at one point Ivy notes that every time they meet they have to have a little spat before they can settle into being unguarded with each other; Ash too, notes that she finds Ivy “uptight, judgemental and annoying”, but none of this is enough to get in their way.

There is real chemistry between these two and Aboud finds some simple but clever ways to bring it out: at one point, whilst on a date, the music in the bar deliberately drowns out the dialogue leaving us to watch as she choreographs movement to eloquently illustrate their growing desire.

There are some plot lines that tie up far too tidily toward the end, but the plot isn’t the point here.

This is a compelling sapphic romance with a side dish of body horror and featuring two remarkable performances in a rich, dreamlike and carnivorous mix.

Tender plays to 1 August.

All pictures credited to Harry Elletson

Book tickets: Tender

Simon Thomsett has worked in the professional theatre for a number of years. He started out as a stage manager and technician then became a venue director and producer, notably at the Hackney Empire, Fairfield Halls and most recently the New Victoria Theatre in Woking.

He now works as a consultant and on some small scale producing projects. He is a Chiswick resident and a passionate advocate for great theatre.