HAVE you ever experienced déjà vu – the feeling that, in the words of a great old song, “some things that happen for the first time seem to be happening again”?

The phenomenon is the premise for I Have Been Here Before, one of JB Priestley’s “time plays”, in which he explores the idea that time might not be as straightforward as the clock and calendar suggest.

The action takes place in a Yorkshire inn in 1937. A German professor, Dr Gortler (Mitch Capaldi), arrives, and he has a pretty good idea of the guests he is going to meet there, even before those guests arrive to seek a room.

Businessman Walter Ormund (Neil James) is a hard-working man prone to drinking too much and to thoughts of harming himself. His younger wife Janet (Jessica Olin), meanwhile, is haunted by the idea that she recognises her surroundings, even though this is supposed to be her first visit. She is soon drawn into a relationship with another guest, teacher Oliver Farrant (Moses Lufti), the pair of them sharing a connection even though they have apparently never met.

Could it be that these characters are not experiencing all these events for the first time? And how much control do they have over their destinies?

Priestley’s drama unfolds slowly at first, but director Su Gilroy’s production always holds the attention. And while the characters and plot may not be as neatly worked out as in the author's classic An Inspector Calls, there are plenty of surprises in the story – especially in the second act, when characters make some surprising departures from the trajectory they seemed to be on.

The evening is another success for London Repertory Players, who are now on their fourth play of the season. Next week, they change genre again to end the season with Mike Leigh’s Abigail’s Party, starting on Tuesday, August 23.

I Have Been Here Before runs until Saturday, August 20.