In this powerful co-production between Queensland Theatre Company and Sydney Theatre Company, love and neuroscience are explored in Lucy Prebble’s award-winning play, The Effect.
Two young volunteers, psychology student Connie and unemployed drifter Tristan, sign up for a pharmaceutical drug-test trial. Examining the effects of a new anti-depressant, they are closely monitored by psychiatrist Lorna, who is herself being supervised by another doctor, Toby.
As the doses become stronger, the volunteers become increasingly attracted to each other and struggle to discover if their feelings are real. Can their newfound emotions be trusted? Or is love just another adverse side-effect?
The Effect premiered to great acclaim at London’s National Theatre in late 2012 winning the UK Critic’s Circle Award for Best New Play for Prebble, who also penned the West End hit Enron and TV’s Secret Diary of a Call Girl, pierces the unknown mysteries of the brain, and plumbs the depths of sanity, neurology, destiny and loyalty.
Under the directorship of Sarah Goodes (Vere [Faith], The Splinter and Edward Gant’s Amazing Feats of Loneliness), The Effect features a marquee cast including Anna McGahan recently seen in House Husbands and Underbelly: Razor, and onstage in Managing Carmen, alongside AFI Award-winning actress Angie Milliken, a well-known face of Australian film and television (My Brother Jack, The Shark Net, MDA).
Also appearing is one of Brisbane’s most sought-after actors, Eugene Gilfedder, recently seen in Bell Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors, and QTC’s Macbeth, and acclaimed Sydney actor, Mark Leonard Winter, remembered for his performance in Thyestes, which he co-wrote for The Hayloft Project.
Director: Sarah Goodes Cast: Eugene Gilfedder, Anna McGahan, Angie Milliken, Mark Leonard Winter Set & Costume Designer: Renée Mulder Sound Designer/Composer: Guy Webster
The Effect
The Bille Brown Studio – QTC, 78 Montague Rd, South Brisbane
Season: 7 June – 5 July 2014
For more information and bookings, visit: www.queenslandtheatre.com.au
Wharf 1 – STC, Pier 4/5 Hickson Road, Walsh Bay (Sydney)
Season: 10 July – 16 August 2014
For more information and bookings: www.sydneytheatre.com.au
Image: courtesy of Queensland Theatre Company