"The Effect" at Jungle Theater

In my day job, I work in clinical trials. I'm not a researcher in the clinics working with patients, I sit at home in my living room analyzing the data they collect. But still, the themes and situations in the brilliant play The Effect are familiar and fascinating to me. Written by Lucy Prebble, a writer and executive producer on the brilliant and brutal HBO show Succession, the play asks thorny and relevant questions about the ethics of clinical research, for-profit pharmaceutical companies, and the health care industry in general. It also explores the very stuff that makes us human, our feelings and emotions, and if that resides in our brain, or in our heart, or in situations or the substances we're taking. (If you're getting Severance vibes, you're not alone.) In short, The Effect is my favorite kind of play - smart and thought-provoking, asking difficult questions and not answering them, populated with complex, interesting, and engaging characters. And as expected, Jungle Theater's production really couldn't be better, with a fantastic four-person cast and spot-on design. If you like smart, thoughtful, relevant plays, The Effect is not to be missed (continuing through the end of March).

Dr. Lorna (Christina Baldwin) checks to make sure Tristan
(Kamani Graham) and Connie (Becca Claire Hart) swallowed
their pills (photo by Janet Eckles Media)

Connie and Tristan are patient volunteers in an in-patient clinical trial studying a new anti-depressant drug. Neither has a history of depression; Tristan is doing it to fund his upcoming backpacking trip, Connie to pay for her studies or maybe as something to do while her boyfriend is out of town. They're closely monitored by Dr. Lorna James, as the dosage is slowly increased over several weeks. They don't know whether they're receiving the drug or the placebo, so when they start experiencing "symptoms" that mimic falling in love, they don't know what's real and what's an effect of this drug they may or may not be taking. Regardless of the reason, they fall fast and act recklessly. Meanwhile, we learn more about Dr. Lorna and her boss Dr. Toby Sealey, who's high up in the drug company and tours to expos and conventions to extol the virtues of their products. There's obviously a history between the two doctors which makes things a bit awkward, especially when we learn that Lorna has suffered from depression in the past, and Toby may have given her a job out of some sort of obligation. To avoid spoilers, let's just say that things go awry in the trial, and "the effects" are life-changing for all of our characters.

this is your brain... (Greg Watanabe, photo by Janet Eckles Media)

Kamani Graham and Becca Claire Hart are both so great as the patients, Kamani (a soon-to-be U of M/Guthrie BFA graduate) as the more fun and free-spirited Tristan, Becca as the more reluctant and anxious Connie who slowly warms up to him, both so real and believable. The Jungle's Artistic Director Christina Baldwin plays Lorna, and it's a joy (albeit a painful one at times) to watch the character go from reserved and clinical, to showing more and more of her inner workings, a beautifully layered performance. Rounding out the small cast is Greg Watanabe as the charming but driven Dr. Toby, not an entirely likeable character, but not without humanity either.

Director Alison Ruth, who serves as Associate Director of Artistic Programming and Development at the Jungle and I think is directing here for the first time, does a great job with this smart and complex script. The storytelling is crisp and clear, and the dialogue and relationships feel real and natural. A particularly impressive sequence is Tristan and Connie's first night together, which plays out in a series of short scenes in quick succession separated by blackout. The design elements are a crucial part of this sequence and the entire show, with stark lighting changes, and sounds that punctuate scenes. The entire play takes place on the same set, which looks like a sterile and modern clinic waiting room lined with plastic chairs, and two exam tables in the center along with a cart with medical equipment. The color scheme is sort of a mint green like the color of scrubs, with pale gray curtains surrounding the space on three sides upon which projections of the brain or words or shapes are displayed. The patients are dressed in comfy dark grey track suits, the doctors in chic business casual under white lab coats. (Scenic design by Benjamin Olsen, costume design by Sarah Bahr, sound design and composition by Dan Dukich, lighting design by Shannon Elliott, projection design by Peter Morrow and Leslie Ritenour.)

If you can attend one of the Sunday matinee post-show discussions - do. Featuring physicians from the U of M in addition to creative team, it's one of the better post-show discussions I've attended. No annoying questions like "how do you memorize all those lines" or "I couldn't hear," but really digging into the themes of the play and their real-life implications. It's worth noting that the play was written over ten years ago but like everything, feels particularly resonant today with potentially huge changes coming to our health care system and/or federal funding of clinical research. But as Christina noted in the talkback, the important and necessary thing about art like this is that it causes us to think about and question these things, the importance of clinical research and its failings. And it helps that the play is hugely entertaining and engaging.

The Effect continues at the Jungle Theater in Uptown through March 30.