l-r Nadi Kemp-Sayfi (Ivy) and Annabel Baldwin (Ash) in Tender at Bush Theatre. Photo credit Harry Elletson
“You could say, you might say that my life is perfect”
Ivy has life sorted; she’s got a flat, a boyfriend and she knows exactly where it’s all headed. Except there is this thing that she tries not to think about. The thing she left in her childhood bedroom.
Ash is having the time of her life. Fresh from leaving a bad relationship, she’s got no idea what’s next. But there’s something about her new flat. The wallpaper pulses and sometimes it sounds like a heartbeat.
Two women. A chance meeting. Giddy kisses they never should have shared. Tender is the story of two people who find each other without even knowing they were looking.
The dazzling and moving new play by Eleanor Tindall (Before I Was A Bear, Soho Theatre) is directed by Emily Aboud (Lady Dealer, Bush Theatre) and produced by Broccoli Arts and Jessie Anand Productions, the team behind the record-breaking Bush Studio hit This Might Not Be It.
Praise for Before I Was A Bear:
Eleanor Tindall was nominated for Best Writer at the Stage Debut Awards
★★★★★ ‘Gorgeous, hilarious and thrillingly weird’ The Stage
★★★★★ ‘Flawless’ The Spy in the Stalls
Looking for show information and content guidance?
Tender Self-Care Guide and Content Warnings
Alys Whitehead is a scenographer based in London and the South East. She has been an Associate Designer of Dissident Theatre and NDT Broadgate.
As designer, theatre includes: The Angry Brigade (LAMDA); Sorry We Didn’t Die At Sea, Snowflakes (Park); The Retreat (Finborough); Lysistrata (Lyric Hammersmith); SAD (Omnibus); Maddie (Arcola). As associate designer, theatre includes: Wordplay (Royal Court); Zoe’s Peculiar Journey Through Time (Theatre Rites/Southbank Centre and International Tour); Sea Creatures (Hampstead). As assistant designer, theatre includes: Dixon and Daughters (National).
Alys Whitehead is a set and costume designer who trained at Central Saint Martins.
As designer, Alys’ theatre work includes: Bedroom Farce (Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch); Revenge: After the Levoyah (Summerhall); This Might Not Be It (Bush); The Angry Brigade (LAMDA); Sorry We Didn’t Die At Sea (Park); Snowflakes (Park); Lysistrata (Lyric Hammersmith); Sad (Omnibus); Maddie (Arcola).
As associate designer, her work includes: Macbeth (Harold Pinter ); The Glass Menagerie (Rose, Belgrade , Alexandra Palace and UK Tour); Earthworks (Young Vic); My Beautiful Laundrette (Leicester Curve & UK Tour); Wordplay (Royal Court); Zoe’s Peculiar Journey Through Time (Theatre Rites/Southbank Centre & International Tour); Sea Creatures (Hampstead). As assistant designer: Dixon and Daughters (National).
Broccoli Arts produces theatre primarily for/by/about lesbian, bisexual & queer people who experience misogyny. Founded by Salome Wagaine in 2019, now run by Eve Allin, Broccoli exists to produce theatre that has variety, ingenuity and relevance. We enable queer writers and creatives to make work that is not defined solely by identity, aiming to produce work which is enjoyable, political & innovative. Broccoli productions include This Might Not Be It by Sophia Chetin-Leuner (Bush Theatre, 2024), Salty Irina by Eve Leigh (Summerhall, 2023) Before I Was a Bear by Eleanor Tindall (Bunker Theatre, 2019 & Soho Theatre, 2022). Broccoli is supported by Stage One.
Chloe is a graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She is an associate at Zoo Co Theatre Company and ChewBoy Productions. Chloe also works as the Deputy Production Manager at the Young Vic.
Her recent and current work includes: Shifters (Bush & Duke of York’s); Passing Strange and A Face In The Crowd (Young Vic); Perfect Show For Rachel (Zoo Co & Barbican); This Might Not Be It (Bush) and; Silence (Tara).
David Doyle is a multi-award-winning lighting designer from Ireland.
Lighting work includes: Bellringers (Hampstead /Paines Plough Roundabout); Bullring Techno Makeout Jamz (Royal Court/Paines Plough Roundabout/UK Tour); we were promised honey! (59E59/Paines Plough Roundabout/UK & International Tour); Life According to Saki (New York Theatre Workshop/Edinburgh Fringe); Instructions and Little Deaths (Summerhall); SAP (Paines Plough Roundabout/Soho Theatre/UK Tour); Nation (Paines Plough Roundabout); Boy in Da Korma (Jermyn Street /Pleasance); Fabulous Creatures and Anna Bella Eema (Arcola); Carmen, EAST, and Outlying Islands (King’s Head); The Last Show Before We Die (Yard/Bristol Old Vic/Paines Plough Roundabout); Douze, The Power of Wow, and Confirmation (UK & Ireland Tour); ADMIN (Project Arts Centre/Irish Tour); Brendan Galileo For Europe (Irish Tour); Richard Carpenter is Close to You and; My Name is Saoirse (International Tour).
David also works as a producer and is currently the Executive Producer for Jermyn Street Theatre.
Eleanor is a writer from London. Her debut play Before I Was A Bear premiered at The Bunker Theatre, gaining her a nomination for Best Writer at The Stage Debut Awards in 2020 and returning for a week to a sold-out audience at Soho Theatre in 2022. She has been a member of Soho Theatre Writers Lab and taken part in writing workshops run by the Almeida and HighTide. Recently, Eleanor was commissioned by the Donmar Warehouse to adapt Macbeth for young audiences; her adaptation, Macbeth: Something Wicked toured schools across Camden and Westminster from June to July 2024 and reached over 3,500 young people. In 2024 Eleanor was selected as part of the BBC Voices programme and shortlisted for the Verity Bargate Award for her play What If Orpheus Was Four Sad Women.
Tender was a finalist for the 2023 Ambassador Theatre Group’s playwriting prize in association with Platform Presents.
Ellie Isherwood is a sound designer, composer, actor/musician and synth-pop artist (BYFYN). Her “quietly ground breaking” work spans a vast array of forms, from site-specific theatre, to binaural audio experiences, to musical theatre. Recent work includes composition and sound design for Fringe First Award-winning production: Son of a Bitch (Summerhall); Rock DJ (New Diorama) and; The Odyssey (Unicorn).
Emily Aboud is a Trinidadian theatre director. She was shortlisted for the RTST Peter Hall Award in 2023 and shortlisted for the JMK Award in 2022 and 2021. She is a recipient of the Evening Standard Future Theatre Award. Recent credits include: Lady Dealer (Bush, Paines Plough Roundabout); Rock DJ and Three Other Songs That Saved The World (New Diorama); Haemosporidian (Lyric Hammersmith); Flip! (Soho Theatre and regional tour), SPLINTERED (Soho Theatre Mainhouse, also writer), Close Quarters (LAMDA), Salt Slow (RCSSD), BOGEYMAN (Edinburgh Fringe 2022, also writer), Pink Lemonade (Bush Theatre) and Chatham House Rules (Pleasance Theatre). As a Caribbean theatre maker, her work draws inspiration from the political community theatre she grew up making in Trinidad – a combination of music, movement, direct audience address and theatricality.
Eve Allin (she/her) is a producer for theatre. She is Executive Producer at Broccoli Arts, a production company making work for/by/about lesbian, bisexual and queer people who experience misogyny.
Broccoli productions include: Tender, This Might Not Be It (both Bush ); Salty Irina (Paines Plough Roundabout, Summerhall); Before I Was a Bear (Soho). Eve was Associate Producer at Soho Theatre for; Super High Resolution and Boys on the Verge of Tears. Independently, she is the producer for internationally award-winning artists Civilisation by Jaz Woodcock-Stewart; work.txt by Nathan Ellis and WRESTLELADSWRESTLE by Jennifer Jackson . Eve is a Stage One supported producer.
Jessie Anand Productions makes theatre and opera that is fresh and playful. Since it was founded in 2018, the company has been nominated for six Offies and premiered five new plays. Productions include the Offie-winning Yellowfin at Southwark Playhouse, the acclaimed Pennyroyal at the Finborough, and Orlando, which transferred to New York in 2023 following its success in London and Edinburgh. The company has also produced opera at Arcola Theatre and Wilton’s Music Hall, and is currently working with Maz O’Connor to develop her new musical The Wife of Michael Cleary, which recently won the MTI Stiles and Drewe Mentorship Award. Upcoming productions include Antisemitism: a (((musical))) at Camden People’s Theatre and Tiger at Omnibus Theatre. Jessie Anand Productions is supported by Stage One.
Nikita Bala is a London-based freelance stage and production manager with a passion for all things technical. She has enjoyed collaborating on silly, clown-y shows, buzzing through festivals, and touring across the country doing what she loves.
Past credits include: Nowhere (Fuel); Bangers (Cardboard Citizens); Lady Dealer (Grace Dickson Productions); Godot is a Woman (Silent Faces) and; The Wolf, the Duck, and the Mouse (Unicorn).
Tommy Ross-Williams (they/them) is a BECTU IC Registry Level 2 Intimacy Coordinator. They are also the Chair of the Intimacy Coordinators branch for BECTU. As an Intimacy Coordinator, Tommy has worked across stage and screen with BAFTA-nominated filmmakers, Turner Prize winners and Academy Award nominees.
Intimacy Direction credits include: Brokeback Mountain (@sohoplace, West End); The Little Big Things (@sohoplace, West End); Just for One Day (Old Vic); As You Like It (Shakespeare’s Globe); Salty Irina (Summerhall) and; The Glass Menagerie (Rose Kingston / UK tour).
Intimacy Coordination credits include: BBC, Disney, Amazon, Sky, BFI, Paramount, MTV, Universal Pictures, BFI and Apple TV. They are the Lead Intimacy Coordinator on the hit show Sweetpea, currently playing on Sky.
Tommy is also an award-winning writer/director. Recent credits include My Uncle Is Not Pablo Escobar at Brixton House. As a screenwriter, they were selected for both BBC Writers: Voices 2024 programme and Climate Spring’s Hot House Incubator.
