Review - The Effect - Royalty Theatre

The Effect  

Royalty Theatre

18th April, 2024

Written by Lucy Prebble

Directed by Jordan Carling

I really wasn't sure what to expect from The Effect. The blurb (is it called blurb for a play??) on The Royalty website didn't give much away, a drama about a couple who fall for each other while taking part in a drug trial. It did give a content warning...."Scenes of a sexual nature, mental health, depression, a mention of suicide, depiction of an overdose, and medical trauma." Hard hitting stuff, and all in the confines of the studio space. It was likely to be something of a challenging theatre experience, and maybe not entirely comfortable.  

It is certainly hard hitting, and a little uncomfortable at times. For a play with only 4 characters, and minimal set it packs quite a punch. Performed in the Studio, the audience are literally feet away from the actors - in the front row you could reach out and touch them. Indeed at one point Mik Richardson as Dr Toby Sealey actually interacts with members of the audience. It's a moment only but in doing so he draws us all further into the story than we might want to be.  As the story unfolds we witness, and experience, the developing relationship between Connie and Tristan. It's intense, passionate and accelerated by the restrictions imposed upon them... confined by space, and the prohibitions on their actions, and subject to the side effects of the drug they are test subjects for. Their experiences, their emotions, are heightened, and their actions and reactions observed and documented with sterile, clinical objectivity. Their passion is a complete contrast to the measured, scientific trial procedures, and the aloofness of the Doctors. But as we watch, the audience begins to unpick the professional relationships and we begin to learn that there is something more - there are undercurrents here that are deep seated and will prove more devastating than the whirlpool of  emotion surrounding Connie and Tristan. 

Lucy Prebble raises some difficult issues. Drug trials, big pharma and profit versus health and wellbeing of the individual, the moral and ethical rights, the nature of depression, the fragility of our mental health but also the resilience of the human spirit. So I was not really expecting this play to make me laugh, and yet it does. The honesty of the characters, the absurdity of their situation, their ingenuity and at time naivety provide moments of humour to balance out the trauma, the anguish, the uncertainty of their situation. The laughter both punctuates and accentuates the seriousness of the situation, not just that of the Connie and Tristan, but also of Dr James and Dr Sealey.  There are so many layers to this play it would take more space than I have available here to examine or explain them. Relationships, loyalty, honesty, integrity, ethics, morality, the nature of love, are all examined and the audience, in the end is left to draw their own conclusions. 

Helena Wildish and Jamie Lowes are utterly convincing as the test subjects, irresistibly drawn to each other, neither they nor the audience ever sure if the attraction is real or simply drug induced. 

Mik Richardson's Dr Sealey is such an odious, self-serving man - try as I might I could not like him, even in the final scenes I felt his true intent was simply to prove himself right, and avoid blame. 

And finally Emily MacDonald as Dr Lorna James, the professional, yet humane face of the drugs trials. Emily's performance is understated compared to the volatility of the other characters, yet she conveys both the strength and fragility of the character with integrity.

Four excellent, self-assured performances in a thought provoking and emotional play - not always comfortable to watch, especially so if you have experience of the issues it raises, but definitely worth it. 

There are limited seats available, and I would recommend you buy one in advance for the last performance. Tickets available online at  www.royaltytheatre.co.uk  

Denise Sparrowhawk