Experiment over

The latest in an occasional series of theatre reviews...

The Effect : Lyttleton Theatre

A random choice based on the fact that it was written by Lucy Prebble (who worked on Succession) and stars Paapa Essiedu (who was in Gangs In London, but turned out to not be the guy I thought he was).  Which, let's face it, isn't exactly the best reason to go and see something, but there's so much out there you have to make choices based on something - I've also not been to this theatre (which is part of the National Theatre).

Well, that doesn't really give the game away much, does it?  I also had to give it a double-take to see whether the people behind the stage were actually real people or a very big mirror (they're real people!).  Funnily enough as the house lights go down, the stage lights go up both in luminosity and elevation - otherwise we'd be in for a very odd show indeed.

And four people come on stage - two in the middle and two at the ends in an obvious interview situation.  In time it becomes clear that Connie (Taylor Russell) and Tristan (Paapa Essiedu) are volunteers in a drug trial, supervised by doctors Lorna (Michele Austin) and Toby (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith) and the vast majority of the show is two headers (from memory, I can only think of one scene where three people were talking at once).  The main premise of the show is that Connie and Tristan fall in love - but is it "real" or only because of the drugs?  And what is the ethical situation either way?  It also sneaks in a couple of other themes along the way (including "who supervises the supervisors?") some quite subtly and some not so much, but it doesn't seem entirely sure how best to end things - and they certainly went with something I wouldn't have gone for.  It's "fine" but, to be honest, I expected better.

Despite a lot of the show being two headers, all four actors are on stage for the entire time - sitting or standing in the dark when not called into action - given the exposed nature of the stage this is probably the wisest choice.  And all the acting is top-notch - Taylor and Paapa get the biggest scenes and they really the sell the interaction and the slightly hysterical/uncertain nature of it all well.  Lorna starts off in full doctor mode but relaxes in to the role well (some of the decisions she makes seem a little off, but that's hardly the actor's fault) - Toby has less to do throughout the show but he has the most fantastic voice - he reminded me of the Black Books episode with Peter Serafinowicz in (if you remember that, which you probably don't).

The setting is very minimal - four chairs and a bucket (and something in the bucket. but I'm not going to tell you what - and you'd never guess!) but it makes impressive use of light and projections to delineate the space well.  And that's all I've got to say on that really!  On the writing front, I generally liked the dialogue because it felt natural in an unnatural setting - you were left guessing as to how "real" things were.  I wasn't so convinced by some of the plot decisions - particularly the ending which I have previously mentioned.

I did like the theatre - the seat was very comfortable with a good sightline, despite being one row from the back.  The theatre was also full, which I maybe wasn't expecting for a matinee performance - it was mostly old people and students, but not exclusively so.

Overall, it was an enjoyable play with some fine acting without threatening to be great - I'd certainly go back and watch either Taylor or Paapa if they pop up in anything close by (and I'm actually just about to watch a film with Taylor in).  

Kate - a well put together show
Pygmalion - A bit disappointing