SHIFTERS Will Make North American Premiere at Cherry Lane Theatre
This follows a sold-out run at the Bush Theatre and in London’s West End.
Cherry Lane Theatre will present the North American premier of Shifters, the new romance by Olivier Award-nominated writer Benedict Lombe. Following a sold-out run at the Bush Theatre and in London’s West End, this production will make its North American debut at Cherry Lane Theatre (38 Commerce St, New York, NY 10014), with previews beginning July 6th and an official opening set on July 15th, running through August 30th, 2026.
This epic and universal love story is about the enduring power of memory and young love. Meet Dre and Des, they are young, gifted, Black. He stayed. She left. Years later they come crashing back into each other’s lives, carrying new secrets and old scars. Caught in the space between memory and reality, they struggle to navigate the shifting borders that threaten to rewrite their past and reshape their future.
Heather Agyepong (The Power, School Girls; or The African Mean Girls Play), whose performance received critical acclaim and an Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress in the original production, will reprise her role as “Des”. She is joined by Daniel Ezra (Netflix’s All American, The Running Man), who takes on the role of “Dre”. The production is directed by BAFTA-nominated and Evening Standard Theatre Award-winner Lynette Linton (The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, Not Your Superwoman). Read the reviews for the West End production here.
Eleanor Lloyd Productions and Chuchu Nwagu Productions, in association with Sonia Friedman Productions, are thrilled to bring this groundbreaking work to the Cherry Lane stage.
“When I was invited to write a Black British love story for the stage by our director Lynette Linton, I thought a lot about the existing canon in this genre. Who gets to be viewed and celebrated as a romantic lead? Whose cultures and histories are brought into focus? Who gets to be audacious? Who gets to be complex and flawed and funny and intelligent and joyful and fully human? SHIFTERS was born from this intentionality and specificity – a universal love story between a British Congolese woman and a British Nigerian man – that demanded nothing less than to shift the theatrical canon. Both onstage and offstage. We've journeyed from West London to the West End. And as we now make our way to the West Village, I'm so thrilled to be bringing the love story of Des and Dre to Cherry Lane Theatre – the most audacious theatre in town. See you there.” - Shifters Writer, Benedict Lombe
“We made Shifters because we wanted to see and celebrate Black British love on stage. We made Shifters because we wanted to take up space. Bringing this show to Cherry Lane, all the way to New York, means the show is taking up more space than we could have imagined. Come we go! Benedict writes dialogue and romance in a way that no one else can, and it is my privilege to get to direct her words again. We can’t wait to share this romantic, epic, timeless story with new audiences. I hope you are all ready for Des and Dre.” - Shifters Director, Lynette Linton
Shifters was originally commissioned by Bush Theatre, supported by Jerwood Foundation.
Tickets go on pre-sale May 8th, ahead of the full sale May 11th. Preview pricing (July 6th-15th) ranges from $69 - $139 with a limited selection of $24 rush seats, while regular run pricing (July 17th-August 30th) scales from $89 - $169 with onstage seating available at $99.
Videos