Can love be grown in a lab? If romantic love is just a chemical reaction which occurs briefly in humans and then often fades, can that reaction be sparked and prolonged by a drug? That’s one of the questions explored in Lucy Prebble’s play, The Effect, staged at Oxford’s Burton Taylor Studio by Fennec Fox Productions.
The scene is set with a soundscape. Before the actors take to the stage, there is the bubbling, throbbing, pulsing sound of science, which continues through the production and evokes the clinical, chemical world of the laboratory.
In The Effect, Prebble subverts the familiar "stuck together" trope of romantic fiction, in which two characters are confined together and fall in love. In this case, our two lovers-to-be, Tristan and Connie, are brought together in a medical research centre. They are both taking part in a pharmaceutical trial to test out a new antidepressant drug.
The play begins with the pair, dressed in white T-shirts and sweatpants, arriving on the studio stage for a series of preliminary psychological assessments conducted by a doctor before the period of confinement begins.
The cast do an excellent job of creating an entirely believable, playful, flirtatious and ultimately romantic relationship. Rose Martin is full of twitchy energy as Connie, while Alec Day Greene brings confidence and charisma to Tristan. Prebble’s writing is laced with sharp wit and humour. Director Josh Robey presents the story as a scientific thriller. A voice-over delivers details of doses of the drug being administered. The actors are bathed in red light. Strobe lights flash. Sounds grow louder and louder, externalising the characters’ anxiety and claustrophobia.
Yet we are also witness to scenes of intimacy. A series of tableaux depicts moments in the couple’s blossoming relationship. We watch as they gradually come together and fall giddily in love with each other. They connect, joke, dance, share secrets and have sex. But is the love real, or is it merely an effect of the drug?
As Tristan and Connie fall for each other, they are closely observed by the doctors. Although the scenes between the doctors perhaps do not have the same level of tension and intensity as those between the two central characters, they provide an effective counterbalance. The actors make the most of the material they are given. Rohan Joshi, as Dr Toby Sealey, delivers a speech explaining how he entered the field as a reaction to criticism of his heart-surgeon father. Robyn Hayward is particularly impressive in conveying the troubled emotions of Dr Lorna James. In a later scene, she delivers a moving monologue in which she shares her own story of lost love and her concerns about the use of mood-altering drugs.
The Effect is an intelligent play which tackles themes of love and depression. It is a thrilling, thought-provoking experience which excites, entertains and leaves a lasting impression on its audience.