There can be no doubt about it: the Bush is blazing. This punchy West London venue, under the dynamic artistic directorship of Lynette Linton, has already provided one West End transfer in 2024 in the form of football drama Red Pitch to @Soho Place . Here comes the second, a glorious two-hander from Benedict Lombe, with its proud tagline proclaiming it as a “fierce romance”.
Lynton herself directs – and in the sort of coincidence that theatrical fact spotters adore, she will also direct the next play at this venue, the Lily Collins-starring Barcelona . A block of onstage seating creates a traverse playing space, overhung by strips of neon tube lighting that blaze variously when emotional connections are made (all credit to lighting designer Neil Austin). We meet the affable Dre ( Tosin Cole, of Doctor Who fame ), 32, on the day of his beloved grandma’s funeral.
Des ( Heather Agyepong ), 32, arrives very late, blaming a delayed flight. She, we learn quickly and forcefully, does not believe in destiny, despite it being her name. It is not difficult to discern the sparks that are flying between the pair so why, we wonder, are they not together? From this appealing starting point, Lombe craftily leads us both forward and back.
We shift to later on the day of the funeral as the prospect of Des’s return flight hovers and back to when the pair first met at the age of 16, as the only black kids at a northern school. Dre wants to convince the eloquent Des to join the debatin.