‘COME INSIDE. THE DANCING BEARS ARE WAITING FOR YOU.’
A scorching hot play that will melt your heart.
PRESS NIGHT: THURSDAY 30 APRIL
Today Soho Theatre announces casting for TENDER, the final production in a box office record-breaking Main House season. TENDER is written by Dave Harris and directed by Matthew Xia the team behind ★★★★★ TAMBO & BONES. Darren Bennett, Dex Lee and Kwami Odoom are the Dancing Bears. Jessie Mei Li is about to change everything.
The Dancing Bears strip club is failing. Ten covers on a Saturday. One booking next week. Down the street, a rival crew are packing fifty women a night with their twelve-inch synchronised dicks. When the boss’s daughter shows up, she decides they need a completely different kind of show.
TENDER puts the audience inside the club. On-stage seating. Paddles. Dollar bills. The full package.
TENDER will be staged in Soho Theatre’s Main House Friday 24 April to Saturday 30 May. Press Night: Thursday 30 April.
Also announced today, the TENDER creative team are:
Director – Matthew Xia
Designer – ULTZ
Lighting Designer – Ciarán Cunningham
Sound Designer – Roly Botha
Choreography and Intimacy Director – Shelley Maxwell
Casting Director – Heather Basten CDG
Production Manager – Toby Smith for The Production Family
Associate Designer – Mark Simmonds
Associate Costume Designer – Maybelle Laye
Assistant Director – Wiebke Green
DARREN BENNETT is a leading stage and screen actor, who has an extensive career in the West End and in theatres across the UK. West End credits: Victor Garber in TITANIQUE (Original London Cast, Criterion Theatre); Vince Fontaine in GREASE (Dominion Theatre). Film & TV: THE ROYAL VARIETY PERFORMANCE 2025 (ITV); BETTER MAN directed by Michael Gracey (Saban Films); THE SOUND OF MUSIC LIVE directed by Coky Giedroyc (ITV1); CINDERELLA with Camila Cabello directed by Kay Cannon (Columbia Pictures/Amazon Prime).
DEX LEE is best known for playing Bear Sylvester in BBC’s DOCTORS for five years, earning nominations at the British Soap Awards and Inside Soap Awards. Other TV includes Kenny Simmons in the 2024 Christmas special of DEATH IN PARADISE (BBC). Theatre includes: Toulouse-Lautrec in MOULIN ROUGE! THE MUSICAL (Piccadilly Theatre); Benny in IN THE HEIGHTS (King’s Cross Theatre), having played Jose in the Original London Cast (Southwark Playhouse); THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS (Garrick Theatre, dir. Susan Stroman); and FATHER COMES HOME FROM THE WARS (Royal Court Theatre). WhatsOnStage Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical for FIVE GUYS NAMED MOE. He trained at The Arts Educational School.
JESSIE MEI LI recently wrapped production on the feature film A RARE BREED and the six-part television project THE SEASON, in which she stars as Cola Pierce. She can currently be seen in the Netflix feature film HAVOC, alongside Tom Hardy, directed by Gareth Evans. Jessie is also widely recognised for her starring role as Alina Starkov in two seasons of SHADOW & BONE. Other work includes THE AGENCY (Paramount+), WE MIGHT REGRET THIS (BBC), the Edgar Wright feature LAST NIGHT IN SOHO for Working Title Films/Film4, and Ivo van Hove’s stage adaptation of ALL ABOUT EVE at the Noel Coward Theatre opposite Lily James and Gillian Anderson.
KWAMI ODOOM is a stage and screen actor and award-winning stand-up comedian. His theatre work includes playing Sebastian in TWELFTH NIGHT at Shakespeare’s Globe, and spans productions such as Inua Ellams’ HALF GOD OF RAINFALL at the Kiln Theatre and BARBER SHOP CHRONICLES at The National. Other theatre credits include QUEEN MARGARET, ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL and HUNGER. On screen, he has appeared in DEATH IN PARADISE, THE ROOK, THE ATHENA, BBC’s DOCTORS and HOLBY CITY, and short film, THE ONE MINUTE PROBLEM.
TENDER by Dave Harris is part of a season of in-house produced new writing in Soho Theatre’s Main House that started with Eoin McAndrew’s Verity Bargate Award-winning LITTLE BROTHER (★★★★ The Guardian), David Ireland’s MOST FAVOURED (★★★★ WhatsOnStage), Miriam Battye’s THE VIRGINS (★★★★ The Times), and Sarah Power’s WELCOME TO PEMFORT.
Praise for TAMBO & BONES
‘Unique, challenging and oh-so necessary’
★★★★ The Guardian
‘Like nothing you’ve ever seen’
★★★★ The Telegraph
‘Funny, filthy, often gleefully ridiculous’
★★★★ Time Out
‘As entertaining as it is unnerving’
★★★★ The Stage
-ENDS-
NOTES FOR EDITORS
This production is supported by the Cockayne Foundation.
For further information, tickets, interviews, images: press@sohotheatre.com
LISTING
Soho Theatre presents
TENDER
Written by Dave Harris Directed by Matthew Xia
Fri 24 April – Sat 30 May
Press Night: Thu 30 April
Soho Theatre – Main House
From £10 On-Stage seats just added
‘Thank you for trusting us with your pleasure!’ The Dancing Bears strip club is failing. Ten covers on a Saturday night. One booking next week. The new club down the street are packing fifty women a night with their twelve-inch synchronised dicks. When the boss’s daughter shows up, she realises they’re gonna need a bigger show. From the ★★★★★ Tambo & Bones powerhouse duo: writer Dave Harris and director Matthew Xia comes a steamy, boisterous and tender story about breaking free from masculinity’s seductive cage.
Captioned Performance by Alex Romeo: Wed 13 May, 7pm
Audio Described Performance by Miranda Yates: Thu 14 May, 2.30pm