Give me the name Lucy Prebble and quite frankly I’m already sold. I adore the quick-fire pace and barbed wire humour of her lines in her screenplays for the glorious ‘Succession’, I can watch infinite times and still find another layer.
No better way then than to spend a Sunday afternoon watching the Crescent Theatre Company – under director Alex Arksen – put their personal stamp on Prebble’s award winning play ‘The Effect’. I also discovered she had written it for her best friend, the actress Bilie Piper who had suffered a bad experience under psychological treatment, which added to the fascination.
The story is set a few years in the future and concerns two young people who sign up for a paid stay in a drug testing clinic to try out a new antidepressant. What was not expected is that the two protagonists would discover intense feelings for each other – but is their sudden and intoxicating chemistry real, or a side effect of the drug trial? This dilemma has reverberations and devastating consequences for the supervising doctors. Like much of Prebble’s work, it’s not always easy to understand, but it’s a fabulous journey to follow.
The studio set is, once again, in the traverse with audience facing each other like rival sets of fans watching a game going on in the middle. The only furniture being a multipurpose white block at either end. The flooring of the acting area is fittingly the bland clinical tiles that are synonymous with medical centres.
Picture by Graeme Braidwood Photography. sChris Brigg’s lighting design is equally stark and dispassionate, likewise the grating and haunting soundscape by the talented Brendan Stanley. Cinematics by videoturgist Rod Natkiel, mirrored intermittently on facing screens, gives welcome pointers as to where we are time and plot wise.
Once seated in the auditorium, white coated medics (aka stagehands) invite members of the audience to take part in the experiment by looking at ink blots and saying what they see. I saw lots of hippopotamuses which probably confirms I am thick-skinned.
This pre-show antic was a clever touch by Arksen, as when the lights go down and we are told the experiment will be starting shortly – it’s a cerebral trick that helps us believe we’re in a clinic not a theatre. In fact, Arksen directs cleverly throughout allowing the actors plenty of time to breathe – and us to think. We are always the observers and never the participants but can be the pundits when we have had time to reflect on the way home.
Picture by Graeme Braidwood Photography. sJason Adam and Helena Lima play Tristan Frey and Connie Hall the drug testing volunteers. They are perfectly matched foils for each other and the passionate tumbles they take down virtual rabbit holes are beautifully played. Lima’s Connie is more insular but confident whilst Adam’s Tristan is a jack-the-lad roller ride twixt being joksey or furious. Individually they are watchable; together they are simply magnetic.
Dan Hawkins plays Dr Toby Sealey a little like one of those annoying experts that appeared on our screens nightly during Covid, You know the ones who said stay home and fret whilst they secretly visited their mistresses. Like all the players in this talented company he delivers with passion and believability.
Picture by Graeme Braidwood Photography. sFinaly to Liz Plumpton – for me her portrayal of Dr Lorna James was flawless and by far the finest part I have ever seen her play at the Crescent. She was utterly immersed in and totally understood her character – watching her own descent from control freak to gibbering wreck was nothing short of a masterclass.
The Effect maybe short on laughs but high on emotion tugging. It leaves you feeling unsettled and thinking of where you yourself stand on life’s spectrum, which in my book means – team Arksen – job done!
The Effect runs until January 25. Click here for times, tickets and more information.
