Effect, The

The Effect, is an unconventional and moving love story; sexy, funny, and thought-provoking in the exploration of the limits of medicine in today’s pill-popping culture and spiced with warmth, humour and intelligence. Read more …

Connie (Scarlett Mack) is a psychology student. Tristan (Cameron Crighton) is a charming drifter. Both have signed up to a clinical trial for a new antidepressant super-drug and sealed off from the outside world, the attraction between them turns into deeper feelings as their doses get stronger. They’ve been warned of side effects – can they trust their feelings, or is this just a chemical romance?

As the trial’s overseeing physician (Pauline Knowles) and her superior (Jonathan Coote) contend with the illicit relationship of their charges, they become increasingly conflicted about the ethical implications of their work. It’s soon clear they have a past beyond the laboratory and neither is objective about the complex issues that surround them.

More information on this production is available at www.firebrandtheatre.co.uk.

The critical consensus

What makes The Effect compelling – the more so in Richard Baron’s lucid production for Firebrand – is the uncertainty at its core.

(*) Mark Fisher, The Guardian, 26/02/2015

Richard Baron's revival of Prebble's play for the Borders-based Firebrand company squares up to the heart and soul of the matter with a quartet of ferocious performances that render much of the digitally animated projections unnecessary distractions.

(*) (*) Neil Cooper, Coffee-Table Notes, 27/02/2015

Richard Baron’s company give this full-length play an impressive run for its money.

(*) (*) Joyce McMillan, The Scotsman, 28/02/2015

Everyone wants to know how love works, which is why the scientific backbone of the play is still so engaging. It is thoroughly entertaining and beautifully balanced.

(*) Charlotte Hathaway, TVBomb, 01/03/2015

A production with a terrific cast that's held back by a rambling script.

(*) (*) Michael Cox, Across the Arts, 03/03/2015

The Effect becomes a tedious rehash of received ideas about desire, gender-relations and the power of pharmacists over doctors.

(*) (*) (*) Gareth K Vile, The List, 04/03/2015

In The Effect, Firebrand has succeeded in producing absorbing, thought provoking theatre that is laden with the morass human complexities and the pertinent question here of whether a kiss is in fact just a kiss.

(*) Irene Brown, Edinburgh Guide, 13/03/2015

A strong ensemble tackles Prebble’s themes with sensitivity.

(*) (*) Allan Radcliffe, 09/03/2015