The Effect
A clinical drug trial takes a surprising turn in this witty and intimate examination of love and ethics.
A clinical drug trial takes a surprising turn in this witty and intimate examination of love and ethics.
01 Aug - 07 Oct 2023
Tickets £20-£85
Jamie Lloyd directs The Effect, Lucy Prebble’s (Succession) witty and intimate examination of love and ethics.
The story follows two young volunteers in a clinical drug trial for a new antidepressant whose sudden and intoxicating romance poses startling dilemmas for the supervising doctors...
A gripping examination of love, depression and the limitations of neuroscience, the play poses fascinating questions for the audience.
Is the thrilling passion that blossoms between Connie and Tristan the early stages of true love? Or has their relationship been accelerated by a combination of unusual circumstances and mind-bending drugs? Or is the case a mixture of both? And, furthermore – does it even matter anyway what medication they take when the emotions that they are feeling are so obviously real...?
The Effect debuted in the West End in 2012, garnering huge praise for the then-emerging playwright Lucy Prebble. For this 2023 revival the BAFTA-winning actor from I May Destroy You, Paapa Essiedu, plays Tristan opposite Taylor Russell star of the cult 2022 horror romance Bones and All.