Heather Agyepong (Des); photo crdit: David Reiss / click
for hi-res version
Daniel Ezra (Dre); photo credit: Dalvin Adams / click for
hi-res version
Photo credit: courtesy of Cherry Lane Theatre / A24 / click
for hi-res version
THE SMASH HIT PLAY SHIFTERS FROM BENEDICT LOMBE COMES TO
THE CHERRY LANE THEATRE
NEW YORK, NY – Cherry Lane Theatre, New York’s oldest Off-Broadway theatre and a historic cultural landmark in the West Village, is proud to announce the North American premier of Shifters, the critically acclaimed, intoxicating, and fierce 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 electrifying production will make its highly anticipated 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.
AWARD WINNING WRITER BENEDICT LOMBE’S WEST END PLAY IS REPRISED STARRING OLIVIER NOMINATED ACTRESS HEATHER AGYEPONG AND DANIEL EZRA, DIRECTED BY BAFTA NOMINATED AND EVENING STANDARD THEATRE AWARD WINNER LYNETTE LINTON
TICKET PRE-SALE GOES LIVE TODAY, MAY 8TH
PUBLIC ON SALE MAY 11TH
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).
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 today, 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.
For tickets and more information on Shifters visit cherrylanetheatre.org.
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:
https://cherrylanetheatre.org/shows
LISTINGS INFORMATION:
@ShiftersPlay / @CherryLaneTheatre
Written by Benedict Lombe and Directed by Lynette Linton
Cherry Lane Theatre, 38 Commerce St, New York, NY 10014
Ticket Pre-Sale: May 8th, 9am EST
Ticket Full-Sale: May 11th, 9am EST
Previews: July 6th - 15th
Show Opening: July 15th
Show Closing: August 30th
ASSETS:
Headshots
Imagery/Flyer
@CherryLaneTheatre
CherryLaneTheatre.org
About Cherry Lane Theatre
As the oldest Off-Broadway theatre in New York City, the century-old Cherry Lane Theatre has long been a staple in New York’s cultural landscape. Acquired by A24 in 2023, the theatre has undergone a multi-year renovation and reopened in September 2025. Its programming includes theater, as well as comedy, music and film. A new addition to the theater is Wild Cherry, the latest bar restaurant from Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr, the team behind Frenchette, Le Rock, and Le Veau d’Or.
About Benedict Lombe | Writer
Benedict Lombe is an Olivier Award nominated Congolese British writer based in London. Her debut play Lava (Bush Theatre 2021) was awarded the 2022 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, becoming one of the first writers in the prize’s history to win the award for a debut play. Lava also won a Black British Theatre Award and an Off West End Award for Best Performance Piece. Shifters was her second commission from the Bush Theatre in 2024. It went on to have a second sell-out run when it transferred to the Duke of York’s Theatre in the West End, marking a ground-breaking moment as Benedict Lombe became the third Black British female playwright to have a play staged in the West End. Shifters went on to earn two Olivier Award nominations in 2025, including an Olivier nomination for Best New Play – making Benedict Lombe the first Black British woman to be nominated in this category. Shifters won a Black British Theatre Award for Best Play Production, and is currently in development for a TV adaptation with Oscar, Emmy and BAFTA-winning production company See-Saw Productions. Benedict Lombe is currently developing an original feature film for BBC Films, an original musical film, and a new play commissioned for the National Theatre. She was also recently chosen to be the recipient of the prestigious Clarissa Luard award by Booker prize-winning author Alan Hollinghurst.
About Lynette Linton | Director
Lynette is an award-winning and BAFTA-nominated Director and Writer for theatre, television and film. She ran the Bush Theatre from 2019-2025 during which her programming centered on ground-breaking debuts from UK and Irish writers. Recent work as a Director include The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (RSC/@sohoplace), Not Your Superwoman (Bush Theatre), Intimate Apparel (Donmar Warehouse; Black British Theatre Awards Best Director), Alterations (National Theatre), Barcelona (Duke of York’s), Shifters (Bush Theatre/Duke of York’s) and My Name is Leon (BBC 2; BAFTA nominated).
She is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (2025) and co-founder of production company Black Apron Entertainment.
About Heather Agyepong | Cast (Des)
Heather Agyepong’s theatre credits include Shifters (The Bush Theatre and West End) and for which Heather received an Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress, School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play (Lyric Hammersmith); Celebrated Virgins (Theatr Clwyd); The Body Remembers (Battersea Arts Centre); Noughts & Crosses (UK tour); Girls (Soho); So Many Reasons and Best Friends (Ovalhouse).
For television, her credits include The Power (Amazon Prime); This is Going to Hurt (BBC) and Enterprice (BBC), and for film; To Make Ends Meat (BFI/BBC Film, directed by Luna Carmoon), Supergirl (directed by Craig Gillespie), Joy (directed by Ben Taylor), Sylvia (directed by Tara Ayeni).
Heather is also an award-winning visual artist with her work in numerous collections including New Orleans Museum of Art, Mead Art Museum, The Walther Collection & Centre National des Arts Plastiques. Her work will be on display in August 2026 at National Portrait Gallery, London after a recent acquisition.
About Daniel Ezra | Cast (Dre)
Daniel Ezra can be seen starring alongside Glen Powell in Edgar Wright's Paramount feature THE RUNNING MAN, a remake of the 1987 cult classic. He has just been announced to star in Netflix’s ALL THE SINNERS BLEED, joining the previously announced leading cast: Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù, John Douglas Thompson, and Nicole Beharie. He plays the leading role of Spencer James in the successful Netflix series, ALL AMERICAN, written by Nkechi Okoro and Greg Berlanti. Now in its seventh season, its high critical acclaim and loyal fanbase have established Daniel as one of the industry’s most exciting and promising rising stars. His work on the series earned him a nomination for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2022.
Other television credits include A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES alongside Theresa Palmer and Matthew Goode for Sky, the BBC One drama UNDERCOVER, and the acclaimed second series of THE MISSING, also for BBC One. On stage, Daniel starred as Sebastian in Simon Godwin's 2017 production of TWELFTH NIGHT at The National Theatre in London. His turn as the character was well-received and resulted in a nomination for the coveted Ian Charleson Awards, which recognize the best classical stage performances in Britain by actors under age 30.
About Eleanor Lloyd Productions
Eleanor Lloyd Productions is a multiple Olivier Award winning theatre production company in London.
Current productions include: Agatha Christie’s Witness for the Prosecution, now in its ninth year at the specially created theatre in London’s County Hall.
Upcoming productions include: SYLVIA, the Olivier-Award winning hip-hop, funk and soul musical starring Beverley Knight, which is touring the UK, including the Royal Albert Hall, in Autumn 2026.
Recent productions include: Here There Are Blueberries at Stratford East, The Ladies Football Club at the Sheffield Crucible, The Manningtree Witches at the Mercury Theatre Colchester, Ava Pickett’s adaptation of Emma at the Rose Theatre; Not Your Superwoman at the Bush Theatre starting Letitia Wright and Golda Rosheuvel; Beth Steel’s Till the Stars Come Down at the Theatre Royal Haymarket; The Last Stand of Mary Whitehouse at Nottingham Playhouse starring Maxine Peake; Shifters (Duke of York’s); Deborah Frances-White’s debut play, Never Have I Ever (Chichester Festival Theatre); Eddie Izzard’s Hamlet (Riverside Studios) and Great Expectations Garrick); Prima Facie on Broadway; the Olivier Award- nominated Vardy v Rooney: The Wagatha Christie Trial (Ambassadors and tour); Best of Enemies (Noël Coward); The Collaboration (Young Vic and Friedman Theater, Broadway); Constellations (Vaudeville – winner of two Olivier Awards); new play Emilia (Vaudeville – winner of three Olivier Awards).
Eleanor co-owns Tilted Sessions, a live podcast production company which is currently producing Uncanny, Brown Girls Do It Too and Something Rhymes with Purple. www.tiltedco.com
Eleanor Lloyd was awarded an OBE in the 2025 New Year’s Honours. She was President of the Society of London Theatre (SOLT) from 2020-2024 and now serves as Vice President. Eleanor sits on boards of the Bretforton Grange and Theatrebarn and Stage One.
www.elproductions.co.uk
About Chuchu Nwagu Productions
Chuchu Nwagu Productions (CNP) is an independent theatrical and live entertainment production company set up to develop, commission, invest in and produce world-class theatre and entertainment in the UK and internationally. Through all its work, CNP looks to disrupt the canon, democratise theatre, tell world-class stories, create inclusive experiences, elevate the voices of the underrepresented in society and be the changing face of theatre.
Recent producing credits include: The P Word (Bush Theatre); The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (RSC and West End); Hell’s Kitchen (North American Tour); Dear England (UK tour); Burlesque the Musical (Savoy and UK); Retrograde (Apollo); Play On! (London/UK tour); The Roommate (Broadway); Shifters (Duke of York’s); Red Pitch (@sohoplace); Choir Boy (Bristol Old Vic); Lenny Henry’s August in England (Bush); Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman (Broadway); Dreamgirls (UK/ Ireland tour).
For more information on Chuchu Nwagu Productions and how you might be able to support its mission, please visit www.chuchunwagu.co.uk. Chuchu Nwagu dedicates his involvement in SHIFTERS to his mum, who sadly passed away last year.
About Sonia Friedman Productions
Sonia Friedman Productions (SFP) is an international production company responsible for some of the most successful theatre productions around the world. Since 1990, SFP has developed, initiated and produced over 200 new productions and together the company has won 63 Olivier Awards, 48 Tonys and 3 BAFTAs. In 2019, Sonia Friedman CBE was awarded ‘Producer of the Year’ at the Stage Awards for a record-breaking fourth time. In 2018, Friedman was also featured in TIME 100, a list of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. In 2017, she took the number one spot in ‘The Stage 100’, becoming the first number one in the history of the compilation not to own or operate West End theatres and the first solo woman for almost 20 years. Current productions include: The Book of Mormon (West End); Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (West End, Broadway, Hamburg and Tokyo); Stranger Things: The First Shadow, a co-production with Netflix (West End); Mean Girls (West End); Merrily We Roll Along (Broadway); Stereophonic (Broadway); Patriots (Broadway); Here There Are Blueberries (New York Theatre Workshop); Funny Girl (US tour). Forthcoming productions include: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (North American tour); The Book of Mormon (UK & International tour 2024); Paddington - The Musical (UK); Juno and the Paycock (West End); Oedipus (West End); Fangirls (Lyric Hammersmith); The Hills of California (Broadway); Bust (Alliance Theatre); Millions (Alliance Theatre). Previous theatre productions include: The Hills of California (West End); Lyonesse (West End); The Shark is Broken (Broadway, Toronto, West End); Dr Semmelweis (West End, Bristol Old Vic); Funny Girl (Broadway); Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! (West End, Young Vic); Patriots (West End, Almeida); New York, New York (Broadway); Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Melbourne, Toronto, San Francisco); Leopoldstadt (Broadway, West End); Mean Girls (US tour, Broadway); The Secret Life of Bees (Almeida); To Kill a Mockingbird (West End); The Piano Lesson (Broadway); Merrily We Roll Along (New York Theatre Workshop, West End); Dreamgirls (UK tour, West End); The Book of Mormon (UK & Europe tour 2019-2022); Eureka Day (The Old Vic); Jerusalem (West End, Broadway, Royal Court); The 47th (The Old Vic); The Human Voice (West End); Maria Friedman and Friends: Legacy (West End); Fair Play (Bush Theatre); Anna X (West End), Walden (West End) and J’Ouvert (West End) as part of the Re:Emerge season; The Inheritance (Broadway, West End, Young Vic); The Comeback (West End); Uncle Vanya (West End); Fiddler on the Roof (West End); Rosmersholm (West End); The Ferryman (Broadway, West End, Jerwood Theatre); Ink (Broadway, West End); The Jungle (West End, Young Vic, San Francisco); All About Eve (West End); Summer and Smoke (West End); Consent (West End); The Birthday Party (West End); Farinelli and the King (Broadway, West End); 1984 (Broadway, West End); Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour (West End); Hamlet starring Andrew Scott (West End); Funny Girl (West End, UK tour); Don Juan in Soho (West End); Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (West End); Travesties (Broadway, West End); The Glass Menagerie (West End); Nice Fish (West End); The Haunting of Hill House (Liverpool Playhouse); A Christmas Carol (West End); Oresteia (Almeida); Hamlet starring Benedict Cumberbatch (Barbican); and many more.
About Bush Theatre
Opened in 1972, the Bush Theatre is internationally renowned as ‘the place to go for groundbreaking work as diverse as its audiences' (The London Standard).
A champion of new work and operating in one of London's most culturally diverse areas, the Bush Theatre is committed to its local and wider artistic communities. Braiding these two strands of work together, the Bush produces an engaging and challenging programme that endeavors to respond to the world we live in with enduring theatre.
Recent successes include multi-award-winning productions Red Pitch by Tyrell Williams and Shifters by Benedict Lombe, both of which transferred to the West End, and Invisible by Nikhil Parmar, which transferred to Off-Broadway. Richard Gadd’s Baby Reindeer, Igor Memic’s Old Bridge, Waleed Akhtar’s The P Word, and Matilda Feyiṣayọ Ibini’s Sleepova won the Olivier Award for ‘Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre’ in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024, respectively.
The Bush Theatre’s talent development programmes discover and develop the very best of the UK’s leading artists. The Bush team believes the theatre has a responsibility to programme and generate opportunities for new and established makers and, through long-term residencies, to support the sustainability of their careers.
The Bush continues to create a space where all communities can be part of its future and call the theatre home. www.bushtheatre.co.uk
For additional information on Cherry Lane Theatre Contact:
Carla Sacks, Sacks & Co. and
Noah Ginsberg, Sacks & Co.