Review: Tender, Soho Theatre

Dave Harris’s Tender arrives with a mischievous glint and a serious point to prove – behind the glistening torsos and cheeky theatrics of a male strip club, there’s a knotty, quietly affecting interrogation of modern masculinity.

Set somewhere in America in the backstage office of a failing club, before occasionally morphing into the club itself, this isn’t passive theatre. Audience members are issued fake dollar bills to give to the strippers, along with paddles with thumbs up and thumbs down on them. Bathed in neon light and underscored by throbbing beats, the space hums with anticipation – the pre-show buzz is palpable. It’s immersive without being overbearing, setting the tone for a show that knows exactly how to work a crowd.

When the troupe, Trae, Geoff, and Donnie, get to strut their stuff, the payoff is immediate. The routines are slick, sexy, and genuinely impressive, blending raw athleticism with a knowing wink. Pole dancing, back flips, and tightly choreographed moves dazzle, and if you’re sitting in the front row, you’re likely to be given an up close and personal lap dance. But Harris is less interested in spectacle for its own sake than in what lies beneath it.

Enter B (Jessie Mei Li), the boss’s daughter, drafted in to rescue the business. Mei Li plays her with a cool, probing intelligence, less dazzled by the bodies on display than by what the men are avoiding. What begins as a rebranding exercise for the show quickly morphs into something more psychologically invasive. B pushes the dancers to rethink not just their act, but their relationship to pleasure and performance, and to show their vulnerability.

It’s here that Tender finds its meaning. Harris uses the heightened setting of a strip club to unpick how masculinity is displayed – not just for an audience, but in male private lives too. The men are constantly ‘on’, locked into versions of themselves that prioritise bravado over honesty, sex over romance. When the question of whether they actually enjoy what they’re selling surfaces, the mood shifts distinctly; the laughs don’t disappear, but tone alters and darkens.

The trio at the centre give the play its emotional ballast – these are sexual alpha males who haven’t heard of the #MeToo movement. Geoff (Dex Lee) is all fast-talking charm, masking something more brittle underneath. The younger Trae (Kwami Odoom) brings a softer, more tentative energy, his eagerness to please hiding self-loathing. Donnie (Darren Bennett) is older and more reflective and acts as an anchor to the other two.

Matthew Xia’s direction keeps things moving with a deft touch, introducing the play’s tonal shifts without forcing them. The action slips between the backstage mundanity of a cramped office and the heightened fantasy of the club floor, aided by Ciarán Cunningham’s excellent lighting design and Roly Botha’s powerful, throbbing music and sound design. 

If there’s a downside, it’s that the climax (pun intended) lingers a little too long, circling its ideas rather than sharpening them. A tighter edit might give the ending more punch – ninety minutes straight through would maintain the energy and focus even more. Still, it’s a minor quibble in a show that’s otherwise sharp, surprising and consistently engaging. Tender is an interesting and fresh look at toxic masculinity; what lies beneath the surface when men confront their inner feelings and realise that there’s always someone else to consider. At the end, my paddle was definitely turned to the ‘thumbs up’ side.

Written by Dave Harris
Directed by Matthew Xia
Designed by ULTZ
Lighting by Ciarán Cunningham
Sound Design & Composed by Roly Batha
Choreographed by Shelly Maxwell
Produced by Soho Theatre

Tender plays at Soho Theatre until Saturday 6 June.