EXCLUSIVE: Channel 4 and See-Saw Films are developing a TV series adaptation of Benedict Lombe‘s history-making play Shifters, which is about to transfer to A24‘s Cherry Lane Theatre and counts Idris Elba and Little Simz as admirers.
The London play about two young Black people who meet again after years apart starred Supacell’s Tosin Cole and Heather Agyepong. We are told the TV version will be more expansive, with Congolese-British writer Lombe set to adapt the play herself, her debut small screen project. It is not yet confirmed whether Cole or Agyepong will reprise their roles.
Shifters follows Dre, a Brit of Nigerian heritage who comes from a council estate, and Des, the middle-class daughter of a neurologist. They are brought together by the school debating society and meet again, eight years after splitting up, with the play moving back and forth between the present and memories of a shared past.
Shifters made a splash in London, landing critical acclaim when it started out at the Bush Theatre before transferring to the West End, where it attracted the attention of Elba, Little Simz and Maya Jama, who became producers on the play.
It made history for Lombe, who became the first Black British woman to receive an Olivier Award nomination in the Best New Play category and only the third to have a performance on the West End. Shifters is now transferring to A24’s Cherry Lane Theatre, with Agyepong reprising her role and A Discovery of Witches actor Daniel Ezra playing Dre.
Channel 4 and See-Saw’s project is in development and has not yet been greenlit.
Lombe is a rising star. Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, she moved to the UK as a child and has won numerous awards for her work including the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize (2022) for her debut play Lava, which was also at the Bush Theatre.
Channel 4 and See-Saw declined comment on Shifters.
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