''The Effect'' is a 2012 play by the British playwright

Lucy Prebble Lucy Prebble (born 1981) is a British playwright. She is the author of the plays ''The Sugar Syndrome'', '' The Effect'', ''ENRON'' and '' A Very Expensive Poison''. For television she adapted ''Secret Diary of a Call Girl'' and co-created ''I H ...

. It received its world premiere at the

Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

's Cottesloe Theatre in November 2012, and starred

Billie Piper Billie Paul Piper (born Leian Paul Piper; 22 September 1982) is an English actress and former singer. She initially gained recognition as a singer after releasing her debut single "Because We Want To" at age 15, which made her the youngest woman ...

and

Jonjo O'Neill John Joseph "Jonjo" O'Neill (born 13 April 1952) is an Irish National Hunt racehorse trainer and former jockey. He is a native of Castletownroche, County Cork in Ireland. Based at the Jackdaws Castle training establishment in England. O'Neill ...

Production

''The Effect'', a The National Theatre and Headlong co-production, opened at the National's

Cottesloe Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. In ...

on 13 November 2012. Directed by Rupert Goold, who also directed Prebble's previous play ''

ENRON Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was founded by Kenneth Lay in 1985 as a merger between Lay's Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both relatively small regional companies. ...

'', the cast featured

as Connie,

as Tristan,

Anastasia Hille Anastasia Hille (born 1965) is an English film, television and theatre actress, and ceramicist. Born in London, she was a student at London's Drama Centre and won second prize at the Ian Charleson Awards in 1994 (the first prize was awarded to ...

as Dr James and

Tom Goodman-Hill Tom Goodman-Hill is an English actor of film, television, theatre and radio. Early life Brought up near Newcastle upon Tyne, he qualified as a teacher before turning to acting. During his time in Newcastle, he regularly acted in amateur perform ...

as Toby. Further creatives were Designer Miriam Buether, Lighting Designer Jon Clark, Musical Direction Sarah Angliss, Sound Designer Christopher Shutt and Projection Designer Jon Driscoll.

Synopsis

Tristan and Connie agree to volunteer in a clinical drug trial. Tristan and Connie start to fall in love. What they are not sure of is whether their newfound passion is instinctive or a byproduct of

dopamine Dopamine (DA, a contraction of 3,4-dihydroxyphenethylamine) is a neuromodulatory molecule that plays several important roles in cells. It is an organic compound, organic chemical of the catecholamine and phenethylamine families. Dopamine const ...

. Thus, Tristan and Connie manage to throw the trial off-course, much to the frustration of the clinicians involved.

Reception

Charles Spencer from ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'' wrote that "Lucy Prebble is a playwright blessed with an exceptionally fine mind . .the play struck me as being both wise and sane, raising more questions than it answers, to be sure, but that seems a sign of integrity in a work dealing with such a complex subject. But what makes The Effect so special, is that as well as being a play of ideas, it is also deeply moving, both in its depiction of the giddy wonder of love, and also in its account of the terrifying wasteland of depression itself . . The Effect is an astonishingly rich and rewarding play, as intelligent as it is deeply felt." Paul Taylor from ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' observed “This four-hander brings the author's agile wit, intellectual penetration and a fresh, deeply affecting empathy to bear on a fundamentally much more complex topic than finance: brain chemistry and what it can – and cannot – tell us about the causes of severe depression and the experience of being in love … This is a provocative and challenging play … it ends in edgy gesture of good sense that made me feel like cheering.”

Awards and nominations

Revival

A revival of the play was planned at the Boulevard Theatre London in March 2020 with

Anthony Neilson Anthony Neilson (born 1967, Edinburgh) is a Scottish playwright and director. He is known for his collaborative way of writing and workshopping his plays. Much of his work is characterised by the exploration of sex and violence. Neilson has bee ...

directing and featuring Eric Kofi Abrefa as Tristan, Christine Entwisle as Dr James, Tim McMullan as Toby and Kate O'Flynn as Connie. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United Kingdom, it has resulted in confir ...

the play has been postponed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Effect, The 2012 plays