By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***1/2

WHEN?: Saturday 17 February, opens 23 February and runs through 30 March 2024 RUNTIME: 105 minutes (no interval) Update: Transfers to the Duke Of York’s Theatre 12 August through 12 October 2024 Tickets

Tosin Cole’s Dre and Heather Agyepong’s Des are soul-mates and we follow them over 16 years from their teens to adulthood.

• Read on for reasons including how we were reminded of Constellations by the fragmented storytelling

The storytelling is non-linear and we shift back and forth across this timeline to see pivotal points in their relationship although ultimately it is about Destiny returning home to visit Dre’s dreamer at his grandmother’s wake.

Director Lynette Linton is the artistic director at the Bush and here gives an open stage with the audience on either side decorated by lights which change colour to denote shifts in scenes.

We were reminded of classic play Constellations (Vaudeville Theatre) by the fragmented nature of the story and this 2-hander plays a similar trick of time-hopping so, although we’re convinced of Des and Dre’s love for each other, we’re never entirely sure if they will end up being together.

The audience at the Bush were particularly invested in this relationship and there were audible gasps and murmors of disapproval at numerous revelations which meant the path of Des and Dre’s love was going to be particularly complicated.

Agyepong’s Des was especially good as the academic with a skeleton in her closet who needed to escape her home town to find herself and there was an awkwardness about her which made her easy to empathise with.

We’ve only ever seen Cole as a companion on TV’s Doctor Who previously and he was unrecognisable here as the more self-assured Dre to whom it was becoming painfully clear about not only what he had lost but also what he had let slip through his fingers.

Particularly effective were the scenes where the pair leaf through old records and images from their past which triggered nostalgic reflections but also harsh recollections about how they had changed – and not always for the better.

We enjoyed Shifters but it didn’t quite grip the attention as we hoped it might and, although the acting was languidly enjoyable, we felt the strengths of the writing didn’t quite justify its extended running time.

It’s not quite a Red Pitch (which transfers to the West End soon) or The P Word then but Bush Theatre continues to be the venue to go to for the best new writing.

• Main picture via Facebook courtesy Bush Theatre
• Have you been to the Bush Theatre before and what did you think? Tickets
• Let us know what you thought in the comments below
• Enjoyed this review? Follow monstagigz on Twitter @NeilDurham, email neildurham3@gmail.com and check us out on Instagram and Facebook