Chemical romance

A play about treating depression and medical ethics, The Effect reunites Zoë Robins with acting mentor Sara Wiseman in a production that marks both women's return to the NZ stage after major screen roles overseas.

- LINDA HERRICK

A young man and woman stand face to face, staring intently into each other's eyes. Emotions are running sky high, but they have only just met. Connie and Tristan, paid volunteers in a clinical trial for a new anti-depression drug, seem to have fallen madly in love.

It might be love. Or it could be a side effect of the drug, which is firing a chemical replication of dopamine, the brain's "happy hormone", through their nervous system. Their passion may be a chemical romance, with a hangover on the horizon.

One way to find out is to step up the dosage and see what happens. However, Dr Lorna James, a psychiatrist observing the trial, becomes increasingly concerned by the volunteers' behaviour. Her supervisor, Dr Toby Sealey, a psychiatrist working for the drug company, wants to press on because there's money in the game.

This is the scenario of English playwright Lucy Prebble's drama, The Effect, being staged by the Auckland Theatre Company from April 16.

The play's central debate spins around the diverging methods - and ethics of treating depression. Dr James believes the condition is caused by external factors, like life itself, and supports therapies such as counselling.

Dr Sealey favours neuroscientific interventions using drugs. Sometimes, both approaches have to intersect.

The ATC team, directed by Benjamin Kilby-Henson, goes full-blast for this production. Sara Wiseman and Jarod Rawiri play the doctors, while Zoë Robins and Jayden Daniels are the young guinea pigs. Connie is a clever, poised student; Tristan is wild and volatile.

The play's intensifying ambience is created by designers Dan Williams and Jane Hakaraia, with a soundscape by Los Angelesbased New Zealand singer-songwriter Chelsea Jade, aka Watercolours.