Arts West closes its season with a extremely powerful performance. The Lovely Bride took it in after an excellent Sushi dinner at Mashiko, then settled in for what turned out to be an excellent, amazing, emotional performance. This is one of those plays where I cannot say enough good things about it.
The Effect deals with the meeting of biology and psychology. Connie (Anna Mulia) and Tristan (Morgan Gwilym Tso) are volunteers for a set of drug trials. The trials are overseen by Dr. Lorna James (Sunam Ellis) under the direction of biochemical entrepreneur Dr. Toby Sealey (Tim Couran, embracing the spirit of Steve Job)
Tristan is a slacker who has does this before, and is there for the payout - he's flirty and nervous. Connie is a student and treats the drug trials as a personal test - she wants to give the "right answers". The drug itself elevates dopamine levels, which affects, among other things, affects emotions and falling in love.
And yes, things go off the rails quickly. Connie and Tristan fall in love. Maybe its their own doing, or the drugs or their emotions. They don't know, and it is frightening. They have their own challenges which surface in the process as they do not believe they have control of their own decisions. Lorna and Toby have their own emotional wounds driving them forward and affecting the results and what they choose to do with them. Lorna in particular is at the fragile center of the storm. Both couples spiral into anger and argument, and no one knows the truth of the matter. Are Connie and Tristan in love because of the drug or is the drug just affecting their own emotions? Are we all victims of our own biochemistry?
And it all works. The actors are frankly terrific. Their characters are human and relatable. The descent into doubt, desperation, and despair is completely believable. The dialogue is natural and often choreographed, the dancelike move of the actors. There are a lot of big ideas fighting with the big emotions in the play, and the bare-bones set of a simple raised platform, limned by neon lights, gives the actors the space to big it all home. The direction (Mathew Wright, also the Artistic Director of Arts West) fits all the pieces together marvelously. The resolution is ferocious and devastating, to the point that the stunned audience at the end was silenced for a few breaths before thunderously applauding.
It all left me shaken in a way that few plays do.
Arts West had an incredible season. Both The Effect and Covenant were among the best theater I've seen in Seattle this year. Guards at the Taj was heartbreaking, and Athena was very good (the Lovely B loved it). The weakest of the lot, the sequel to last years Snowed In, was still festive in the spirit of the Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland lets-put-on-a-show performances.
They did a fantastic job, and The Effect was the icing on the cake. Go see it.
More later,
