by Tony Annicone
The opening show of GAMM Theatre’s 40th Anniversary season is the 2012 play “The Effect” by Lucy Prebble, who later became executive producer and writer for the hit HBO series “Succession”. “The Effect” is a 100-minute show that follows two patients, Tristan, a flirty drifter and jokester, and Connie, a wary and skeptical psychology student, at a clinical trial for an antidepressant. They are doing it for the cash. It requires them to be locked up in some asylum and undergo constant medical supervision. They then fall in love but wonder whether the happy feeling might just be the drug’s ability to mimic dopamine.
Lines blur between chaos and control, reality and mentality, and right and wrong. They must grapple with their feelings. Patients experience a full range of effects from the drug as we watch them engage in a game of “will they or won’t they” and aggressively spiral from the side effects of the drug. Connie feels their feelings are drug-induced, while Tristan feels it is romantic. Two senior doctors watch over their test subjects. However, we also observe their relationship at the same time. Dr. Lorna James, who comes from a working-class family and suffers from depression, is drawn to her counterpart with whom she’s had a past relationship. She interacts with the two younger folks, too. The other doctor is the well-to-do Dr. Toby Sealey, who seems to treat her as if she is one of his patients instead of being a fellow doctor. Sealey is also a big supporter and believer in Big Pharma and believes that Lorna needs drugs to battle her depression. We watch the relationship as well as the power struggles on who is right or wrong. Is it the drug interactions that are the problem, or is it a romantic relationship or the chemistry of an unromantic one being controlled by the drug itself? Director Steve Kidd casts these four roles incredibly well and obtains multilayered performances from each of his talented performers. His powerful direction and understanding of this script helped win his cast a resounding ovation at the curtain call.
Steve is aided in his task by set designer Patrick Lynch, lighting designer Jeff Adelberg, sound designer Hunter Spoede, and costume designer Jessie Darrell Jarbadan. Anthony Goss shines in the show and tackles the role of Tristan, who seems to be in this trial just to make a quick buck or two from it. He does an amazing job of exploring the inner workings of the character and delivers a strong performance. He has a poignant and emotion-packed scene at the end of the drug trial that leaves you with a lump in your throat and a tear in your eye. I last reviewed Anthony in “Top Dog/Under Dog” as Lincoln last season.
Gabrielle McCauley commands the stage as Connie, the skeptical psych major who thinks she knows more about psychology than the two doctors. However, Connie doesn’t really know what to believe as she falls for her fellow test subject. Can it be true love so quickly or did the drug push them into it? Is she taking a placebo or the real thing and worms the information from Dr. James. This leads to a chain of unfortunate events for all four characters. The message can be seen as Big Pharma trying to control a person thoroughly, and one must decide what to do about it. Are they worth all the heartache and angst involved with it. Gabrielle’s energetic portrayal is astounding to behold, and she delivers a strong performance with Anthony that resonates with the audience. I last reviewed her in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” as Honey last season.
Jeanine Kane does a marvelous job as Lorna, who tries to understand her two patients while dealing with her own feelings for her fellow doctor about their past relationship. She controls things very well in the drug trial scenes until things start to spiral out of control. Lorna tries to reassure Connie while at the same time trying to find out the true motives of her fellow doctor. She has an emotion-packed meltdown about what is right and wrong about Big Pharma. Jeanine delivers a terrific portrayal of this tortured doctor with problems of her own. This role is quite a departure from her strong, overbearing character, Martha, in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,” where she ran roughshod over everyone. Trinity Rep member Stephen Thorne makes his debut at GAMM Theatre and delivers an unbelievably nuanced performance as this haughty, seeming-to-know-everything doctor. We observe his control of the situation with the subjects as well as with his fellow doctor. Maybe he isn’t as correct about his methods of obtaining knowledge about Dr. James as he thinks he is. The results of what happens are startling to behold, and are drugs the cure-all they are supposed to be or not? Stephen delivers a splendid performance at GAMM as he does at Trinity, where I have been reviewing him for the past 11 years. The first was as the heroic Tom Joad in “Grapes of Wrath,” but this role is not as heroic as that one. Both Jeanine and Stephen display their prowess at playing a variety of roles. So, for a stunning look at the effects of what a drug might or might not be able to do, as well as an examination of doctor’s methodology, romantic relationships, and their probable causes and outcomes, be sure to catch this very well acted and directed show, “The Effect” which starts off GAMM’s 40th season with a powerhouse show. For tickets, call their box office or go to gammtheatre.org. Tell them Tony sent you.
THE EFFECT (26 September to 13 October)
GAMM Theatre, 1245 Jefferson Blvd, Warwick, RI
1(401)723-4266
