Bush Theatre hit Tender returns with Francesca Amewudah-Rivers and Nadi Kemp-Sayfi

Following a sold-out run in the Bush Theatre’s Studio last year, Eleanor Tindall’s Tender is set to return this summer in a larger-scale production in the venue’s Holloway Theatre. The thriller-come-romance runs from 9ᵗʰ July to 1ˢᵗ August and stars Francesca Amewudah-Rivers and Nadi Kemp-Sayfi.

Directed by Emily Aboud, Tender centres on Ivy and Ash, two women brought together by chance whose growing infatuation is shadowed by forces neither can fully escape. Ivy appears to have her future mapped out, complete with a flat and a boyfriend, while Ash is attempting to move on from a difficult relationship. As their connection deepens, unsettling cracks begin to emerge, from childhood secrets to a flat with walls that seem to pulse with a life of their own.

First staged at the Bush in 2024, the production was praised for blending romance, horror and surrealism while offering a fresh perspective on queer love stories. The new staging reunites the original creative team, with Aboud returning alongside set and costume designer Alys Whitehead, lighting designer David Doyle and sound designer Ellie Isherwood.

Amewudah-Rivers, who recently won both the Ian Charleson Award and the Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for her performance as Juliet in Jamie Lloyd’s Romeo and Juliet, takes on the role of Ash. She stars opposite Kemp-Sayfi, who reprises her role as Ivy following appearances in productions including Sherlock Holmes at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and numerous productions for Shakespeare’s Globe and the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Producer Jessie Anand said the transfer offered an opportunity to “dig deeper” into Tindall’s “knotty, exhilarating play”, adding that director Emily Aboud’s vision for the production had only grown since its original run.

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Photo: Courtesy of Bush Theatre

Tender is at Bush Theatre from 9^th July until 1^st August 2026. For further information or to book, visit the theatre’s website here.