“A... theatrical dissonance renders the ending underwhelming and the production more interesting than entertaining. But despite its imperfections the decision to revive ‘The Effect’ is a laudable one.”
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" 'The Effect' is well worth a visit. The staging is an artistic triumph and the acting is fantastic."
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“A play of ideas about the way our brains work is welded to a ruthless 100-minute emotional arc, laced with wit and given a bittersweet ending. It receives a typically stark, urgent production from Jamie Lloyd which left me impressed and stimulated but also weirdly flat.”
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“ ‘The Effect’ makes you realise just how much theatre has missed [Lucy Prebble’s] razor-sharp writing, her willingness to play with form to tackle huge subjects in a small space...Part of the power of the play is that it raises as many questions as it answers, and values emotion just as much as debate.”
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“Lucy Prebble’s 2012 play – revived at the National Theatre in a flashy Jamie Lloyd production – perceptively shows that when it comes to mental health, we’re all still fumbling around in the dark, like medieval physicians who’ve dropped their tallow candles.”
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“In a play that turns on the question of how much emotions can be manipulated by medication, the director’s sleight of hand makes you even more aware of the script’s schematic structure, not to mention its implausible aspects.”
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“It tantalisingly asks many more questions than it answers. Food for the brain in the bucket, not so nourishing for the heart. Although it’s a bit too long, and although it doesn’t match the greatness of much that has come since, I still love Lucy.”
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“It all adds up to a thoroughly theatrical experience, one in which you’re hyper-aware of the show’s liveness: what’s happening on stage, and how you’re responding to it in the moment – or even contributing yourself. Thrillingly effective.”
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