Shifters Tickets

You’re young. You fall in love with your soul mate. You stay, she leaves. But you never forget each other. Benedict Lombe’s drama about two old flames who meet again is described as ‘smouldering and soulful’. Shifters delivers a romantic, intense and unforgettable exploration of destiny.

Shifters - A beautiful, powerful story about love, loss and destiny

Meet Dre and Des. They fell in love. Years later they meet again, different people with new secrets as well as old scars. Now in their early thirties, Des’ dreams of becoming a successful artist in America have come true. She’ll be going back soon. Dre has worked hard too, realising his own ambitions in the UK.

As their old electricity comes alive again, Des isn’t sure she can bear to leave. When the memories of their teenage love collide with the present they’re left wondering whether fate has reunited them for a reason. It is heart-wrenching watching as Dre and Des - two perfectly matched spirits – face the possibility of being separated again.

About Shifters

Writer Benedict Lombe was born in Kinshasa. Both her plays, this one and Lava, are critically acclaimed. Lava wowed the Bush Theatre in 2021. It was one of the first debut plays to win the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and went on to win prizes at the Black British Theatre Awards and the 2022 Offies. Nominated for the Alfred Fagon Award for Best New Play of the Year, Shifters has also been optioned for TV by an Oscar, Emmy and BAFTA-winning production company.

Lombe is thrilled with the West End transfer. She describes her play as “Our dreamy, tender, unrepentantly romantic show about two lost souls finding a connection that can’t be forgotten”, and says she’s excited to recreate the magic on a bigger stage!” She’s hoping it will “accelerate the pace for the next wave of Black British female playwrights in the West End.” We hope so, too.

Shifters Cast and Creatives

The drama is directed by Evening Standard Theatre Award-winning Lynette Linton, who gave us Blues for an Alabama Sky and August in England. And the stars are Heather Agyepong (School Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play) and Tosin Cole (Supacell, BBC TV’s Doctor Who).

The creative team includes set and costume design by Alex Berry, lighting design by Neil Austin, sound design by Tony Gayle, composition by Xana, and movement and intimacy direction by Shelley Maxwell. Production dramaturg Deirdre O’Halloran and voice coach Joel Trill are joined by Heather Basten, who cast the production.

Shifters is a beautifully intoxicating play that dives into the enduring power of young love, a story everyone who's ever been in love can relate to.