Kamani Graham, Christina Baldwin, and Becca Claire Hart Photo by Janet Eckles Media

So it is with The Effect, easily her best-known play stateside, now being given a razor-sharp production by Jungle Theater. The Effect takes on another dicey topic, controlled trials of psychotropic drugs using human subjects to measure the effectiveness of substances intended to stimulate desirable moods. Of course, exactly what constitutes a desirable mood is a subjective question, as is the issue of whether feelings and actions taken under the influence of drug-triggered moods are the human subject's authentic nature or merely the nature of the drug acting out through the conduit of the subject's body.

The Effect premiered at the National Theatre in London in 2012, and won that year's Critics' Circle Award for Best New Play. There was an off-Broadway production in 2016. A successful revival at the National Theatre in 2023 transferred intact to New York for an off-Broadway run last year. The Effect is a juicy mix of funny, sexy, and provocative and has become an oft-chosen play among regional theaters. Jungle's production is the first to appear in the Twin Cities.

The setting is the trial of a new drug aimed at elevating the test subject's moods as a treatment for depression. This trial requires the subjects to remain on site for forty days, during which time they will receive gradually increasing levels of the new drug–unless they are receiving a placebo, which they know is a possibility. All the while, their physical functioning and their emotional state are monitored. They are required to turn over their cell phones, ostensibly because the phone signals interfere with the signals on monitoring devices; whether or not that is true or a ruse, the effect is to leave them without any connection to the outside world.

Test director Dr. Lorna James interviews two test subjects. In this way we begin to see how the test is to run, and also get to know Connie and Tristan. Connie is a grad student in psychology who signed up for the trial in part out of academic interest, and also for money to pay for school. Tristan has done similar drug trials before. He appears to be a free-spirited sort, who turns to these kinds of experiences as part of his livelihood. This time he plans to use the money to go travelling cross-country. He is also a flirt–seen first with Dr. James and, as soon as the opportunity arises, with Connie.

A secondary plotline, very much integrated into the primary plot, is about the relationship between Lorna and the experiment's principal investigator, Dr. Toby Sealey, a prominent researcher for the pharmaceutical firm behind the project. We discern early on some kind of past history between them, and that Lorna's being hired to conduct this experiment was a kindness on Toby's part. As we learn more about their past and get a glimpse of their future (as we also do with Connie and Tristan), we see a counterpoint to arguments illustrated by both pairs regarding the use of medications and the role of one's autonomy within a relationship. In both cases we observe soaring highs, devastating lows, and placid but comfortable places in between.

Director Alison Ruth keeps the scenes moving fluidly, like the blood and drugs coursing through Connie and Tristan's veins, metabolizing from one state to another without pause. She slowly parcels out characters' information, like puzzle pieces seen one at a time, that may or may not fit with the pieces already laid out, but hang on long enough and everything fits. Whether the picture revealed when all the pieces are connected is the one you were expecting is your call, as Prebble leaves open the possibility of imagining different best-outcomes, depending on what lens the audience is looking through.

Becca Claire Hart, as Connie, and Kamani Graham, as Tristan, give finely calibrated performances and are perfectly matched. Hart's Connie is initially a bit guarded, even chilly, while Graham's Tristan presents himself as a player, not a serious person. As their drug dosages increase along with their time spent together, Hart's Connie warms up, relaxes, and reaches out, while Graham shows Tristan to have genuine feelings and vulnerability beneath his glib persona. It is a case where the two don't have instant chemistry, but rather, the chemistry bubbles up in tandem with the chemicals they ingest.

Christina Baldwin gives a powerful performance as Dr. Lorna James, starchy and stern in the conduct of her experiment, all business in her interactions with the test subjects, but awkward and defensive around her boss Toby and determined to suss out the motives for his choices. When things go awry with disastrous outcomes, Baldwin vividly conveys the anguish that has plagued Lorna's past, now returned to haunt her anew. Greg Watanabe as Dr. Toby Sealey, keenly portrays the arrogance of someone who has climbed to the top of his field, brashly selling his success to stockholders and viewing his test subjects as just so much lab equipment, only as a last resort revealing a capacity to truly care.

The open-space clinical setting designed by Benjamin Olsen provides a blank slate on which the characters present themselves. Projections designed by Leslie Ritenour and Peter Morrow provide updates on the course of the experiment and maintains a sense of continuous transformation. Shannon Elliott's lighting enables us to see Connie and Tristan isolated in their own space, together in the broad open area, and closing narrowly in on one another. Dan Dukich's sound and musical composition create the auditory equivalent of Elliot's lighting, shifting between a broad and narrow focus. Annie Enneking's intimacy and fight choreography brings an authentic feeling to both.

Prebble has written a probing and engrossing play with markedly authentic dialogue, but there are some gaps in its logic. For one, the notion of test subjects being confined for forty days begs the question of how they are expected to occupy themselves. It is also not clear how Connie and Tristan manage to have as much unsupervised time together as they seem to, without Lorna or her staff intervening. Nor does it seem likely for Lorna to allow rule violations to slide without boosting the security measures. These quibbles with the manner in which the experiment is depicted–and I am in no way an expert on the design of drug trials–do not diminish the play, but move it toward the category of speculative rather than realistic narrative.

A suspension of disbelief goes a long way toward overlooking these types of musings and digging into the expertly drawn characters, the intensity of their feelings, and the questions they prompt. The Effect is a top-tier play that raises provocative questions. It is well worth your attention, especially given Alison Ruth's and Jungle Theater's penetrating production.

The Effect runs through March 30, 2025, at the Jungle Theater, 2951 Lyndale Avenue S., Minneapolis MN. For tickets and information, please visit www.jungletheater.com.

Playwright: Lucy Prebble; Director: Alison Ruth; Set Design: Benjamin Olsen; Costume Design: Sarah Bahr; Lighting Design: Shannon Elliott Sound Design/Composer: Dan Dukich; Projections Content Design: Leslie Ritenour; Projections Systems Design: Peter Morrow; Properties Design/Stage Manager: John Novak; Intimacy/Fight Choreographer: Annie Enneking; Assistant Director: Anna Kay; Technical Director: John Lutz; Production Manager: Kathy Maxwell.

Cast: Christina Baldwin (Dr. Lorna James), Kamani Graham (Tristan Frey), Becca Claire Hart (Connie Hall), Greg Watanabe (Dr. Toby Sealey).