Driven by electric chemistry between its leads, this is a tender and intelligent exploration of what it means to feel.Rating
Excellent
What does it mean for love to be a game of diminishing returns? When emotion can be measured, monitored, and medically manipulated, the line between authentic feeling and artificial stimulation begins to blur.
When Connie (Millie Hall) and Tristan (Shadrach Agozino) meet at a clinical trial for an experimental antidepressant, its side effects – elevated heart rate, anxiety, dopamine spikes – mirror the symptoms of falling in love. As the sparks between them grow, they struggle to distinguish what is ‘real’ from what is chemically induced, and whether that distinction truly matters. The cast is rounded out by Sara Odeen-Ibister as Dr Lorna James, the psychiatrist overseeing the trial, and Andrew Pearson-Wright as Dr Toby Sealey, the drug’s creator, whose personal relationship with Lorna may also be skewing the results.
All four actors deliver strong performances, balancing the mania of love with the depressive chasms that follow its loss. Hall and Agozino capture the giddy intensity of new romance with electric chemistry, Tristan all charisma and easy charm against Connie’s shy curiosity. Pearson-Wright commands the audience in this intimate setting, drawing them into the trial itself. However, Odeen-Ibister may be the standout: a composed clinician uncertain whether it is her heart or her mind that is failing her, culminating in a quietly devastating arc.
Lucy Prebble’s script excels as both a critique of the medical industry and a love letter to the flaws that make us human. Director Sam Edmunds breathes new life into the text (last staged in the UK by Jamie Lloyd at the National Theatre) while asserting a distinct directorial voice. With monster-like shadows, creaking boards, and an emphasis on intimacy punctuated by clinical machine beeps, the production is at its strongest when leaning into these inventive choices.
With so many ideas at play, the production would benefit from a slightly slower pace, allowing key moments not just to land but to resonate. At times, transitions feel rushed, as though racing towards the next scene without giving actors space to fully inhabit the moment or the audience time to absorb it. There are so many striking sequences in dances, pillow talk and monologues, that feel deserving of more time. It is a world rich with ideas and emotion, one that ultimately leaves you wishing you could remain within it just a little longer.
This production lingers not for its answers but for its questions. In blurring the boundaries between chemistry and connection, it suggests that love’s value may not lie in its permanence or purity, but in the vulnerability that comes alongside love. Even with its occasional rush, it remains a striking and thought-provoking exploration of what it means to feel in a world determined to quantify them.
Written by Lucy Prebble
Directed by Sam Edmunds
Produced by Sara Odeen-Isbister for Dapper Productions
Assistant Producer / Stage Manager: Niamh Grace
Movement Director / Intimacy Coordinator: Jess Tucker Boyd
Set Design by Rob Miles
Lighting Design by Sam Edmunds
Sound Design by Gabriel Burns
Tech Operator: Ryan Kingsbury
Graphic Design: Tom Murch
The Effect plays at Old Red Lion Theatre until Saturday 11 July.
