[CREDIT: Cat Laine] Gamm's 40th season opens with psycho-thriller "The Effect" combining drama, suspense and romance in an exploration of pharmaceutical effects on mental health.

WARWICK, RI — A mix of romance, drama, and psycho-thriller, “The Effect” is one of the year’s best shows and a fantastic start to the Gamm’s 40^th season.

I found this production to be an absolutely spellbinding theatrical experience as it explores the nexus between modern medicine and mental health.

Connie and Tristan are participating in a clinical trial for a new anti-depressant. The pair is kept in relative isolation at a testing facility, where they are supervised by Dr. Lorna James.

As they spend more time getting to know each other, Connie and Tristan develop an attraction, which turns into love. But is it real or just a chemical reaction to the drugs they are taking?

Steve Kidd’s direction is polished and the set design by Patrick Lynch is appropriately dark, placing the psycho-thriller action in a blackened room with little outside light coming through the windows.

Gabrielle McCauley (“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”) has to run a gauntlet of emotional states as Connie, a woman struggling with her feelings of infatuation for Tristan. McCauley really sells this character and the internal turmoil she suffers as the rigors of the experiment become increasingly difficult.

Anthony T. Goss, who starred in last year’s “Topdog/Underdog,” is powerfully convincing as Tristan handles his emotions toward Connie.

The rapport between McCauley and Goss is key to the success of this production. The two actors carry this story and are always captivating to watch.

Jeanine Kane (“Faith Healer”), creates a richly textured portrayal of Lorna, a woman dealing with a lot of emotional baggage stemming from a failed relationship.

Stephen Thorne, a longtime Trinity Repertory Company member making his Gamm debut, plays Dr. Toby Sealey, one of the chief executives at the testing facility.

One of the most powerful scenes in this psycho-thriller occurs between Sealey and Lorna. The characters’ past cruelly intrudes on the present as Lorna’s mental state is brought to the forefront.

Playwright Lucy Prebble (“Enron”) is fascinated by the complexity of human nature and takes a harsh view of the ways big corporations promote the use of their products to consumers through the tactics of fear and manipulation.

There is also the suggestion that drugs intended to heal pain may actually be harming the users. The nation’s opioid epidemic and the tragic consequences of addiction to pain relievers such as Oxy Contin bear that theory out.

“The Effect” opens the door to discussions about pharmaceuticals and the people who use them in their daily lives. Are we capable of healing ourselves or do we need pills for us to feel better?

Gamm’s Psycho-thriller ‘The Effect’ Runs Thru Oct 13

Following its critically acclaimed run at London’s National Theater, join us for Lucy Prebble’s (Emmy Award-winning writer of HBO’s Succession) electrifying thriller. A couple meet during a clinical trial for a new antidepressant. As the trial progresses, they fall in love. Is their chemistry real or is it simply ‘chemistry’? Ethics and emotion, sex and science, free will and fate collide in this gripping exploration of neurons versus neurosis.

Runtime: 1hr 40mins without intermission.

Directed by Steve Kidd

Tickets starting at $58

Author: Joe Siegel

Joe Siegel is a regular contributing writer for WarwickPost.com. His reporting has appeared in The Sun Chronicle in Attleboro and EDGE.

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