“You have always been mine,” Dre (Daniel Ezra, right) tells his ex-girlfriend Des (Heather Agyepong) years after they’ve split up, in the Cherry Lane production of Benedict Lombe’s Shifters.
For its third mainstage production under new owners A24, Cherry Lane Theatre brings in a London success—Benedict Lombe’s romantic two-hander Shifters, directed by Lynette Linton—with some boldface names on its U.S. producing team, including actors Idris Elba and Danai Gurira and rapper Little Simz.
Those celebrity producers were all born to African immigrants, just like the characters in Shifters, Des and Dre, who meet as teenage classmates in Northern England. Dre is of Nigerian descent, and Des is Congolese. That cultural representation—Dre and Des eat puff puff and ngai-ngai, listen to Afrobeats, and teach each other Yoruba and Lingala—was of prime importance to the playwright, whose family moved to the U.K. from the Democratic Republic of Congo when she was a child: “I wanted to unequivocally reject the myth that our stories cannot have universal appeal,” Lombe writes in a program note.
Des lovingly untangles Dre’s hair after he uses too much conditioner.
Des and Dre’s story does have universal appeal, partly because, despite the cultural specificity, it seems familiar. From The Four Poster to Love Letters to The Last Five Years, there’s an entire canon of two-person plays depicting a male-female relationship over an extended period. One of them, Gruesome Playground Injuries, was just revived last season (at a theater two blocks from the Cherry Lane), and it, too, jumps around in time and follows characters who befriend each other as schoolchildren.
Shifters also bears a resemblance to another well-known two-hander, Nick Payne’s Constellations, with its celestial-themed set, nonlinear chronology, and Britishness. Lombe’s play might even bring to mind the rom-com Love & Basketball, a that film, like Shifters, follows a Black couple who begin as childhood friends, fight their feelings through school, eventually get together, and eventually break up.
So Shifters isn’t alone as an on-again, off-again love story told in flashbacks. In that respect, Lombe doesn’t quite “shift the theatrical canon”—her ambition for the play, according to the program note. But her drama is distinguished by its sensitive script, psychologically complex characters, and exceptional chemistry between the two leads.
Heather Agyepong has portrayed Des since Shifters premiered at London’s Bush Theatre in early 2024 (it moved to the West End later that year), and her deep connection with Des’s psyche, physicality, and emotions is evident in every scene, at every age. Daniel Ezra, a star of the long-running CW series All American, oozes charm and appeal, yet makes Dre’s insecurities feel as urgent and sincere as his swagger.
For Shifters, the Cherry Lane’s stage has been reduced in size, with rows of seats installed in what’s usually the upstage area. The rest of the audience sits on two sides of the playing area, made into a sort of illuminated shadow box by Alex Berry’s scenic design. Berry has outlined the stage with an array of lighted tubes, some set at angles, hanging overhead, and they shift colors with the mood of each scene.
The play’s scenes also shift, between the present—when Des shows up at Dre’s grandmother’s funeral after eight years of no contact—and the past, as the high-school debating teammates become close friends, then cycle through kissing, estrangement, and a rekindling of the friendship on their way to becoming a couple.
Every embrace between Dre and Des, at every point in their lives, is steeped in passion. Photographs courtesy of Cherry Lane Theatre.
While the play’s title could refer to those shifts, it’s primarily a reference to the characters and the impact they have on each other. “Two little Black kids, destined to oppose each other, push each other, shift each other,” Dre says as he looks back on their early acquaintance. “Something is shifting between you. Something terrifying—and comforting,” Des narrates as their friendship evolves into romance.
At a few points in Shifters, Lombe’s words, the sentiment behind them, and the actors’ delivery combine to sublime effect. This happens when a teenage Des sputters out an admission of her feelings for Dre, and later when he turns their jokey reminiscing into his own confession of love. Possibly the most heart-stirring moment comes with Des’s response to Dre’s concern that his five-year-old child could be an impediment in their relationship. “There’s no reality where something made from you could be a bad thing,” she says plainly.
The beauty of Lombe’s script is the rich character detail and how it’s threaded seamlessly into the dialogue—from Des and Dre’s ordinary conversations as they’re getting to know each other, to more fraught interactions when they’re older, to their tenderest moments of love and trust. Without contrivance or exposition, Lombe reveals their personalities, mental health struggles, experiences with grief, abandonment, and abuse, and outlooks on life. Agyepong and Ezra take these fully realized characters and give them a believable, natural rapport, helping Shifters transcend its familiar setup.
Shifters runs through Aug. 30 at Cherry Lane Theatre (38 Commerce St.). Performances are at 7 p.m. every day except Thursday, with matinees at 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday; for more information, visit cherrylanetheatre.org.
Playwright: Benedict Lombe
Director: Lynette Linton
Scenic and Costume Design: Alex Berry
Lighting Design: Neil Austin
Sound Design: Tony Gayle
Composer and Soundscape Design: Xana
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