PLAY REVIEW: Shifters ★★★★

Transferring after a sold-out run at the off-West End, Bush Theatre, is Shifters, a romcom written by Benedict Lombe following a Black couple as they meet again and we see them rekindle a connection and learn the past that has led up to this point.

There is a profound atmosphere created in this production directed Lynette Linton and which is found in Lombe’s text, along with simplicity, that makes the play itself so delicate and graceful. There is also a subtle reference to neurodiversity and its small things like this that suffuse representation into everyday life and I am highly appreciative of Lombe for this part of the writing.

Neil Austin’s lighting design is absolutely beautiful, however, the way the set design by Alex Berry sits on the stage and looks quite claustrophobic in height creates a barrier between the audience sitting on the stage and the action, which I suspect may not be the case from the auditorium side, limiting the connection compared to if the playing space was more open and encompassed the audience. The acoustics created in the stage area are also not preferable and so the actors’ voices aren’t difficult to hear, but rather don’t have the right resonance.

Heather Agyepong as Des and Tosin Cole as Dre both give great performances and their characters are imbued with an immense sense of naturalism.

It is also phenomenal to have a very full audience of many people of the global majority and it demonstrates to producers, like with For Black Boys… and the recently sold-out Peanut Butter & Blueberries at the Kiln Theatre, if you take what you think is a risk of putting people’s stories on stage, they are going to come!