Tender returns to the Bush Theatre this July with Francesca Amewudah-Rivers

Tender transfers to the Bush Theatre's main house this July with Francesca Amewudah-Rivers and Nadi Kemp-Sayfi

The sold-out 2024 Studio production of Eleanor Tindall's queer thriller-romance moves to the Holloway Theatre from 9 July to 1 August.

Tender sold out its entire run in the Bush Theatre's Studio in 2024. This July it comes back, bigger, with a new cast member and the main house to fill.

Eleanor Tindall's play follows Ivy, who has a flat, a boyfriend and a clear idea of where her life is going, except for the thing she tries not to think about, the thing she left in her childhood bedroom. And Ash, fresh out of a bad relationship, living in a new flat where the wallpaper pulses and sometimes sounds like a heartbeat. Two women, a chance encounter that tips into infatuation, and something waiting just out of sight.

The play has been described as combining the sweetness of a contemporary queer rom-com with the dark underbelly of body horror. That is accurate. It is also a play about repressed sexuality and self-discovery that earns its thriller elements by grounding them in something emotionally precise.

Nadi Kemp-Sayfi returns as Ivy. She is currently on stage at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre in Sherlock Holmes and has previously worked across the Shakespeare's Globe, RSC and Birmingham Rep. Francesca Amewudah-Rivers joins as Ash, having won the Ian Charleson Award and the Critics' Circle Best Newcomer prize in 2025 for her performance as Juliet in Jamie Lloyd's Romeo and Juliet at the West End. Emily Aboud, Trinidadian theatre director and recipient of the Evening Standard Future Theatre Award, returns to direct.

The production is presented by Jessie Anand Productions in association with Broccoli Arts and Bush Theatre.

Tender runs at the Bush Theatre, Uxbridge Road, W12 8LJ, from 9 July to 1 August 2026. Press night is 13 July. Performances Monday to Saturday at 7:30pm, with Wednesday and Saturday matinees. Relaxed performance 22 July, captioned 25 July, audio described 29 July.

Tickets from £15 at bushtheatre.co.uk.