Stage Review - The Effect (ArtsWest)

Stage Review - The Effect
Presented By: ArtsWest - Seattle, WA
Show Run: June 19 - July 13, 2025
Date Reviewed: Thursday, June 19, 2025 (Opening Night)
Run Time: 1 Hour 45 Minutes (no intermission)
Reviewed By: Greg Heilman

One word that I’m very cautious about throwing around indiscriminately is “perfect”. In my mind, perfection is unknowable. Defined by Oxford as “having all the required or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics; as good as it is possible to be”, it strikes me that we’re limited in what we grasp as far as the possibilities are. In fact, I remember being struck by a piece of artwork hanging in the United Nations building when I toured it (many, many years ago). I forget from which nation it came, but what I do recall is the tour guide telling us that the artist intentionally placed a flaw in the stitching, to avoid the piece being labeled as perfect, because, “only God can create perfection”. As I read that definition, and with the realization that not only is perfection unknowable, so are the limits of possibility, so when I consider a show in which I can’t list anything that could be done better, I suppose I could say that the show is, in fact, perfect. So, in that context, and with all due respect to those that feel God can only create perfection, I will summarize the ArtsWest production of The Effect, Lucy Prebble’s play about a pharmaceutical test that drives two subjects together in a way that makes them question what is real and what isn’t, is just about perfect. Director Mathew Wright presents a surreal vision of a futuristic play that asks “Who watches the watchers?”, and has set it in a visual and sonic landscape of neon lights and electronic orchestral music from composer Greg Fields that transports the audience into the world that he has created, a world in which what is real and what isn’t, and whom we can trust and whom we can’t, is up for grabs.

To read the synopsis of The Effect, one would think that it’s simple enough. Two volunteers sign up for and participate in a clinical drug trial for an anti-depressant. As the test goes on, an attraction builds between the two, and neither the participants nor the doctor in charge of the trial know for sure whether the attraction is real or if it’s a response to the increased dopamine infused into the system by the medication. As the volunteers try and figure out whether their feelings are, indeed, real or not, those behaviors start to put the trial and its data in jeopardy. At face value, it sounds like a love story, and there’s a decent part of it that is. It’s so much more than that, though. It is about relationships, between Tristan and Connie, the participants in the trial, and also between Dr. Lorna James, the psychiatrist running it, and Dr. Toby Sealey, who oversees the program, ostensibly Lorna’s superior. Each participant enters in with a certain degree of expectation, but they soon find out that not everything is as advertised. Are both participants taking the medication, or is one on a placebo? How much does anyone know about the test itself, and what danger could arise if bad information is acted upon? All of these things are part of a story that is a gripping and enthralling dystopian tale with a fair amount of twists and turns that come out of nowhere.

It’s the set that is the first noticeable piece of Mathew’s overall vision for The Effect. Parmida Ziaei has designed a setting that is futuristic, minimalist in the way that it allows the rest of the creative team (and cast) to synergize with her work to build a complete world on the ArtsWest stage in which these relationships exist with nothing else, and no influences from outside. It’s a stark world, with just a platform, the area where the trials themselves take place, and a lower area surrounding it from where the physicians monitor the progress of each individual. Mathew’s minimalist vision extends to his creative use of movement as well. Each dose of the anti-depressant is mimed by the actors, there are no dispensers or cups, and each check of a vital sign is met with an associated motion, as well as a change in the color of the neon surrounding the stage. It’s a beautiful choreography, designed by Alyza Delpan-Monley (Associate Director and Choreographer). The motions are in sync, Anna Mulia and Morgan Gwilym Tso (who play Connie and Tristan) perform this dance beautifully with movements that are precise but flowing, and there is never any doubt as to the implied props or what they’re accomplishing on stage. And when I speak about the synergy between the design team members, Trevor Cushman (lighting) and Sandra Huezo-Menjivar (sound) are just as important in The Effect as Parmida is, or as any of the cast members are. In fact, the ensemble that presents this piece, in my mind, extends to the creative team and stage managers (P. Alyda Sorm and Neen Williams-Teramachi). For a play to work as well as this one does, it has to have a good designl, certainly, but it also has to be executed like a well-oiled machine, and that takes everyone’s contribution. To put a finer point on the work from Trevor and Sandra, look no further than a scene in which Connie and Tristan escape their individual rooms and run off to an abandoned location in the facility where they’re being tested, an old asylum. Whereas the stage is mostly lit through spots and accented by neon, a very futuro-clinical motif, in this scene they find themselves in a room that is blueish/gray, with geometric shadows projected on the wall behind the stage area, as if light is coming through a window, transecting a dusty room and landing on that far wall. Add to that the slight echo when the actors speak in this scene, and the comprehensive representation of this particular time and place is complete. That’s just one example of the level of quality that exists in this show that is aesthetically unique.

The Effect is a show that will definitely take audiences by surprise. What starts out as an innocent enough story, two volunteers in a clinical trial, becomes something so much more, and when folks come out of the theatre, they’ll likely leave with mouths agape in consideration of what they’ve just experienced. The play is an emotional exposé of the pharmaceutical industry, and an interrogation of our concept of the human soul. Much of this emotion in the play is a result of some stellar acting from Morgan, Anna, Sunam Ellis (as Dr. Lorna James), and Tim Gouran (Dr. Toby Sealy). Tristan and Connie are polar opposites, Morgan’s character has clearly done this before, he’s confident, loquacious, and just a bit flirty, while Anna’s is more reserved, nervous, and direct in her speech. The two begin the test as strangers and a bit at odds, but their relationship soon begins to grow, and as it does new questions arise as to exactly why. The pair together are very good, and each actor manages this slow transition from strangers to more extremely well, but it’s when their questions, and their actions, begin to have a larger effect that they take their work to another level, resulting in phenomenal acting from both of them, especially after an important turn toward the end of the show. Meanwhile, the doctors have their own issues. Sunam’s Lorna is running the tests, and as the play begins she’s clinical and level headed, staying on task. Along the same lines, Tim’s Toby assumes his position of authority nicely. It’s not too long, though, and also as a result of questions around what is real and what isn’t, that the two begin to disagree, Lorna questioning Toby’s motivations, and Toby wanting his colleague simply to do her job. There’s a quote in the show that sums up this conflict, Lorna challenging Toby, as well as the morality of the pharmaceutical industry at the same time, by saying “there is no such thing as side effects, just effects you can’t sell”. It’s a challenge from someone concerned with medicine toward someone who is more financially focused, and this discourse become the heart of the disagreement between the two. Another indicator of Toby’s position is in what feels like a TED Talk, a presentation to an audience in which he makes a parallel between the brain and the human soul, and how the way we treat one is how we treat the other. Sunam, meanwhile, provides the standout performance of the show, in a scene when she is forced to come to grips with her own demons. It’s an emotional scene, it’s personal and vulnerable, and it’s a piece of acting that is as good as I’ve seen. These four prove that if they don’t limit themselves to just acting, but rather put all of themselves into their performances, amazing things are possible.

Some plays are exquisitely designed, or have actors that perform with a high level of excellence, or that are executed with precision, but rarely do all of these individual components combine to create a piece of theatre that is important, emotional, and jaw droppingly good. The ArtsWest production of Lucy Prebble’s The Effect, under Mathew Wright’s direction, is as close to perfect as a show can get, with a futuristic and ethereal design, a cast that is passionate and fervently emotional, and a team that has come together to present a play that hits every creative and performative mark. No notes.

The Effect runs on stage at ArtsWest in West Seattle through July 13. For more information, including ticket availability and sales, visit https://www.artswest.org/.

Photo credit: John McLellan