Tender by Dave Harris – ★★★★☆
Dean Street has a certain reputation. Known for its nightlife, home to the young, wild and carefree, this street in Soho has seen many a raucous night, and many of these take place in Soho Theatre. Between cabaret, drag and outrageous comedy, Soho Theatre Dean Street has arguably earned its title as London’s most fun theatre. It takes this up a few notches with Tender by Dave Harris, directed by Matthew Xia. Truly wild, riotous and unpredictable, Tender is a ride that requires you to trust the cast and creatives with your pleasure, and in that trust finding beauty, acceptance and liberty.
Dex Lee, Kwami Odoom and Darren Bennet are Jeff, Trey and Donny. Their job title is questionable. They are entertainers, but the work has a lot more meaning, girth and depth. One might assume that they are dancers, but Donny is adamant that he does not dance. They provide a service, but its details are murky and subject to user discretion. They are Dancing Bears, of the strip club of the same name. From the moment we enter the Main House of Soho Theatre’s Dean Street, it’s clear that we’re inside the club. We’re given bills to make it rain, branded stickers to cover our phone cameras, and a paddle with alternating red and green thumbs up signs; red means “stop I’ve had enough” and green means “gimme some more”. We’re given a taste of how exactly the Dancing Bears themselves get down. The show is raunchy, sparing no prisoners, the men surrender their bodies entirely to the resounding waves of applause.The routine displays strength, but also fluidity; a combination of masculine and feminine sensuality and altogether captivating.
The club is failing though, partly due to the opening of a rival strip club a few doors down, where the men seemingly have a lot more to offer. The club’s elusive owner sends her daughter, Bea (Jessie Mai Li), to turn things around or risk closing the club. Bea becomes coach and therapist forcing the performers to unpack their relationships to and understanding of sex, masculinity and pleasure. Each man’s journey is slightly different; Trey tries to reconcile his love for pleasing his partner at the expense of his own satisfaction. Donny, a quiet storm, feels shame about his past relationships with women and the impact this had on his estranged daughter. Jeff is avoidant of emotional intimacy, instead revelling in the wiles of his promiscuity. All 3 men seem to use their work as an escape from their deeper issues, using the bear costumes as Venetian masks.
Harris weaves into a highly comical script, a question about what masculinity is, how it interacts with sex, confidence, interpersonal relationships and self-perception. The men outwardly perform traditional ideas of what manliness is: stoicism, dominance, inflexible heterosexuality and sexual prowess. But hidden in their actions and decision making, in little freudian slips, you find that this is just a show they’re putting on. They are sensitive, somewhat childlike, sometimes homoerotic. None of this serves to strip them of their titles as straight men, it allows them the the freedom to define masculinity for themselves. Harris gives them freedom, encouraging the audience to be free as well. It is genius. A renowned poet, there are monologues that sound like spoken word, pure poetry, so the show is not just a visual force through Xia’s direction, it is a audible one too.
Each member of the cast delivers, making light work of flawed characters. Mai Li, the show’s only female character, is superb, balancing the energy of her male counterparts and serving as a spanner in the works. Constantly energetic, sincere and extremely physical, they keep the stage buzzing at all times.
There are some elements of the story that felt somewhat gratuitous. Towards the end of the play, some of the storylines feel like they come to a rushed end, and it would have been nice to see some character arcs fully fleshed out. The end result however, feels like the exhale of a tightly held breath. Each character makes a decision to take off their masks and be free, letting us be free, we get to see each one of them get their happy ending (PG).
A deep dive into learning how to live in your own body, and embrace every facet of yourself, for yourself disguised in a hot and steamy night out on London’s most daring theatre, Tender is life-affirming and excellently executed. You can trust them with your pleasure, and maybe even more.
★★★★☆
By Melody Adebisi
Tender is showing at Soho Theatre Dean Street until 30 May