The Effect

This funny and moving play explores questions of sanity, neurology and the limits of medicine

Two young volunteers, Tristan and Connie, agree to take part in a clinical drug trial

Succumbing to the pull of attraction and love, however, Tristan and Connie manage to throw the trial off-course, much to the frustration of the clinicians involved

This funny, moving and perhaps surprisingly human play explores questions of sanity, neurology and the limits of medicine, alongside ideas of fate, loyalty and the inevitability of physical attraction

Following on from the critical and commercial success of Enron, The Effect once more delivers a vibrant theatrical exploration into the human brain via the heart

"This four-hander brings the author's agile wit, intellectual penetration and a fresh, deeply affecting empathy to bear on a fundamentally much more complex topic than finance: brain chemistry and what it can and cannot tell us about the causes of severe depression and the experience of being in love ... This is a provocative and challenging play it ends in edgy gesture of good sense that made me feel like cheering" ~ Paul Taylor, Independent

"As in Enron, Prebble writes with a really impressive command of complex ideas, and her mix of the personal and the political is here nearly perfect ... The result is humane and compelling ... intensive, stimulating and moving ... what might well be the best new play of the year" Aleks Sierz, Arts Desk