The Effect - The Shed

The actors Michele Austin, Taylor Russell, Paapa Essiedu, and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith on stage in The Effect. The stage is a platform lit like a light box, giving off a white glowing light. Michele and Kobna are seated at either end, while Taylor and Paapa pace around each other wearing white sweatsuits in the center of the stage. — Left to right: Michele Austin, Taylor Russell, Paapa Essiedu, and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith in *The Effect*, the National Theatre, London, August 1 — October 7, 2023. Photo: Marc Brenner. Courtesy the National Theatre.

The two actors Taylor Russell and Paapa Essiedu face each other pressing their foreheads together. We see them from the shoulders up in a close up. They wear gray hoodies and clasp hands raised behind them. Their eyes are closed and they both have slight smiles on their faces. — Taylor Russell and Paapa Essiedu in *The Effect*, the National Theatre, London, August 1 — October 7, 2023. Photo: Marc Brenner. Courtesy the National Theatre.

Presented by The Shed and the National Theatre, in association with The Jamie Lloyd Company

About this production

“Cosmic and atomically intimate.”
—The New York Times Critic’s Pick

“Superb…four absolutely dialed-in performances”
—New York Magazine

“Genuinely engaging and smart.”
—The Observer

“Director Jamie Lloyd’s signature clinical style is just what the doctor ordered for The Effect, Lucy Prebble’s brain-tingling meditation on what makes us tick.”
—Time Out New York

What impulses define who we really are? As Connie and Tristan settle into their participation in a clinical drug trial, they begin to fall in love. But how can they be sure it’s the real thing and not an exhilarating side effect of the new antidepressant they’re taking? The supervising doctors begin to ask themselves questions too: where do they draw the line between love and ethics?

The Effect is written by Emmy Award winner Lucy Prebble (HBO’s Succession) and directed by Olivier Award winner Jamie Lloyd (Cyrano de Bergerac at BAM, A Doll’s House and Betrayal on Broadway). It features Paapa Essiedu (HBO’s I May Destroy You) and Taylor Russell (Bones and All, Netflix’s Lost in Space) as the participants at the center of an illicit romance alongside Michele Austin (This Is Going to Hurt, Cyrano de Bergerac at BAM) and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (Olivier Award winner for Tina: The Tina Turner Musical) as the doctors administering the clinical trial.

With a traverse staging that intimately connects audience and performers, this propulsive production’s strictly limited, four-week engagement follows its acclaimed run at London’s National Theatre this past fall.

Cast

Michele Austin

Paapa Essiedu

Kobna Holdbrook-Smith

Taylor Russell

Michele Austin’s theater credits include Cyrano de Bergerac in the West End and at Brooklyn Academy of Music; The Hunt, Medea, and The Chain Play at the Almeida; White Teeth at Kiln; Instructions for Correct Assembly, Breath, Boom, and Been So Long at the Royal Court; The Seagull at the Lyric Hammersmith; Pride and Prejudice at Sheffield Crucible; The House That Will Not Stand and The Riots at the Tricycle; I Know How I Feel About Eve and Out in the Open at Hampstead; To Kill a Mockingbird at Regent’s Park; Generations at the Young Vic; 50 Revolutions for Oxford Stage Company; Our Country’s Good for Out of Joint; and It’s a Great Shame at Theatre Royal Stratford East. On television she has appeared in Boat Story, This Is Going to Hurt, The Dumping Ground, Meet the Richardsons, Dark Heart, EastEnders, The Coroner, The Casual Vacancy, Death in Paradise, Harry and Paul, Holby City, Peep Show, Silent Witness, Britannia High, Outnumbered, Never Better, Secret Life, The Bill, The Wife of Bath, Ugetme, A&E, Clare in the Community, Doctors, Gimme Gimme Gimme, Babes in the Wood, Kiss Me Kate, and The Perfect Blue. Film credits include The Children Act, What We Did on Our Holiday, Another Year, The Infidel, All or Nothing, I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead, Second Nature, and Secrets and Lies.

Paapa Essiedu is an acclaimed British actor with a career spanning television, film, and theater. The London-born actor has garnered many accolades including Emmy and BAFTA nominations for his breakout performance in Michaela Coel’s era-defining show, I May Destroy You. Recent projects include The Effect, written by Lucy Prebble and directed by Jamie Lloyd, at the National Theatre. Essiedu starred in season six of the cult anthology series Black Mirror, in the episode “Demon 79”; season two of the Sky thriller The Lazarus Project; and the Working Title/Universal Christmas movie The Genie, directed by Sam Boyd and written by Richard Curtis. 2024 will see Essiedu appear opposite Saoirse Ronan in The Outrun. Based on Amy Liptrot’s bestselling memoir, the feature is directed by Nora Fingscheidt. The feature received its world premiere at Sundance and is in the Panorama section at the Berlinale. Further screen credits include The Capture (BBC1), Alex Garland’s Men (A24), Gangs of London (HBO/Sky Atlantic), Anne Boleyn (Channel 5), Unsaid Stories (ITV), Press (Masterpiece/BBC One), Black Earth Rising (BBC Two), Kiri (Channel 4), and The Miniaturist (BBC), as well as the short film Femme, which was nominated in the Best British Short category at the 2022 BAFTAs and won the BIFA Award for Best Short Film. Further theater credits include A Number (Old Vic; dir. Lynsey Posner), Simon Godwin’s lauded production of Hamlet at the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Merry Wives of Windsor (Royal Shakespeare Company; dir. Philip Breen), King Lear (National Theatre; dir. Sam Mendes), and Pass Over (Kiln Theatre; dir. Indhu Rubasingham).

In London’s West End, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith’s theater credits include The Effect, TINA: The Tina Turner Musical (Olivier Award Winner, Best Actor in a Musical), Hamlet, Edward II, Antigone, and Death and the King’s Horseman. Other productions include The Low Road at the Royal Court; Feast, The Changeling, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, A Respectable Wedding, and The Water Engine at the Young Vic; Light Shining in Buckinghamshire at the Arcola; Detaining Justice, Seize the Day, Category B, Fabulation, Gem of the Ocean, Walk Hard – Talk Loud, and The Playboy of the West Indies at the Tricycle/Kiln; Love’s Labour’s Lost at Shakespeare’s Globe; and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom at Manchester Royal Exchange. Television includes Mr Loverman, The Veil, Accused, His Dark Materials, Red Election, The Split, Ragdoll, Motherland, Dark Heart, Class, Capital, The Last Panthers, Frankie, The Cafe, Sirens, Taking the Flak, Star Stories, Pulling, Little Britain, and Judge John Deed. Film credits include Wonka, Apartment 47a, The Gorge, Mary Poppins Returns, Gwen, Ghost Stories, Paddington 2, Justice League, The Commuter, Doctor Strange, Worricker, and The Double.

Taylor Russell has established herself as a rare and exciting artist in film, television, and theater. Russell recently made her stage debut as Connie in The Effect opposite Paapa Essiedu. Written by Lucy Prebble and directed by Jamie Lloyd, the play is an intimate examination of love and ethics and ran from August 1 through October 7, 2023, at the National Theatre in London. Russell was recognized with an Evening Standard Best Emerging Artist nomination for her critically acclaimed performance. In 2022, Russell starred in Luca Guadagnino’s Bones and All opposite Timothée Chalamet and Mark Rylance. The story follows Maren Yearly (Russell) as she searches through unseen corners of America to find her estranged mother in an effort to understand her dark past. The film had its world premiere at the 2022 Venice International Film Festival, where Russell was awarded with the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor or Actress. The film was released in theaters via United Artists Releasing on November 23, 2022, and Russell was nominated for a 2022 Film Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Performance, a 2022 Gotham Award for Outstanding Lead Performance, and a 2022 San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Breakthrough Artist which she tied for second place. Russell’s revelatory portrayal of Maren earned her a spot in W magazine’s “Best Performances of 2022” issue. Russell is perhaps most well known for her breakthrough role as Emily in director Trey Edward Shults’s Waves alongside Sterling K. Brown, Kelvin Harrison Jr., and Renée Elise Goldsberry. The film, which was released by A24 on November 27, 2019, follows the journey of a suburban family as they navigate love, forgiveness, and grief in the aftermath of a tragedy. Peter Travers from Rolling Stone called Russell “… a phenomenal talent who digs so deep into her character you can feel her nerve endings.” As a result of her groundbreaking performance, Russell won a 2019 Gotham Award in the category of Best Breakthrough Actor. She was also honored with a Virtuosos Award at the 2020 Santa Barbara International Film Festival, nominated for a 2020 Film Independent Spirit Award, and her performance was recognized in Time magazine’s “Best Movie Performances of 2019.” Behind the camera, Russell served as a producer and made her directorial debut with the short film The Heart Still Hums, alongside co-director Savanah Leaf. The 29-minute documentary chronicles five women as they fight for their children through the cycle of drug addiction, homelessness, and the trauma of neglect from their own parents. On June 17, 2020, the film debuted at the 2020 Palm Springs International Short Film Festival and was subsequently honored with the Best Documentary Short Award. Following its debut, Searchlight Pictures’ Searchlight Shorts acquired the short, which went on to win the 2021 Hollywood Critics Association Award for Best Short Film, as well as the award for Best Documentary Short at the 2020 Nashville Film Festival. Russell can be seen starring alongside Ewan McGregor and Ellen Burstyn in Niclas Larsson’s feature film Mother Couch, which made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2023. Next year, Russell will begin production on the new Korean film Hope from director Na-Hong Jin alongside Alicia Vikander, Michael Fassbender, and Hoyeon.

Creative Team

Lucy Prebble is a writer for film, television, games, and theater. She was an executive producer and writer on the BAFTA, Golden Globe, and Emmy Award–winning HBO drama Succession, for which she has also won a WGA and a PGA Award. She is the writer and co-creator of I Hate Suzie and I Hate Suzie Too, which was nominated for five BAFTAs including Best Drama, Best Writer, and Best Actress and won her the Royal Television Society Award for Best Writer. She is also the creator and writer of the TV series Secret Diary of a Call Girl (ITV/Showtime). For theater, Prebble recently had a rewritten version of her award-winning play, The Effect, at the National Theatre, directed by Jamie Lloyd. She wrote the political and emotional meta-thriller A Very Expensive Poison, which was a sell-out, five-star hit for the Old Vic in 2019 and was Olivier nominated for Best New Play. She is the writer of the infamous Enron, a hugely successful piece about the infamous corporate fraud, which transferred to the West End after sell-out runs at both the Royal Court and Chichester Festival Theatre. Her first play, The Sugar Syndrome (2003), won her the George Devine Award and was performed at the Royal Court.

Jamie Lloyd’s credits for The Jamie Lloyd Company include Sunset Boulevard (Savoy; Evening Standard Award for Best Director; seven WhatsOnStage Awards including Best Director); The Effect (National Theatre; five WhatsOnStage nominations including Best Play Revival); A Doll’s House (Hudson; six Tony Award nominations including Best Director and Best Revival of a Play; Drama League Award for Outstanding Revival of a Play and nomination for Outstanding Direction of a Play); The Seagull (Playhouse, Harold Pinter; Evening Standard Award nomination for Best Director); Cyrano de Bergerac (Playhouse, Harold Pinter, Theatre Royal Glasgow, and BAM; Critics’ Circle Award for Best Director; Olivier Award for Best Revival; Evening Standard Award nomination for Best Director; Drama League Award nominations for Outstanding Revival of a Play and Outstanding Direction of a Play; WhatsOnStage Award nomination for Best Director); Betrayal (Harold Pinter and Bernard B. Jacobs; Critics’ Circle Award for Best Director; WhatsOnStage Award for Best Play Revival; Tony Award nominations for Best Director and Best Revival of a Play; Evening Standard Award nomination for Best Director; Drama League Award nomination for Outstanding Revival of a Play; Outer Critics’ Circle Award nominations for Best Director and Best Revival of a Play); Pinter at the Pinter (Harold Pinter); and The Maids, The Homecoming, The Ruling Class, Richard III, The Pride, The Hothouse, and Macbeth (Trafalgar Studios). @jamielloyd

Soutra Gilmour has received huge acclaim for her work, recognized with five Olivier Award nominations and two Tony Award nominations including Best Set Design for Betrayal and Best Costume Design for Cyrano de Bergerac. Theater credits include Sunset Boulevard (Savoy Theatre); Macbeth (Lyric Hammersmith); The Effect and Romeo and Juliet (National Theatre); & Juliet (Shaftesbury Theatre & Broadway); Pinters at the Pinter (Harold Pinter Theatre); Evita (Regent’s Park); The Country Wife (Chichester); Timon of Athens (RSC); Guys and Dolls (Manchester Royal Exchange); Knives in Hens, Inadmissible Evidence, and Piaf (Olivier nomination) (Donmar Warehouse); Apologia, Richard III, The Maids, and The Homecoming (Trafalgar Studios); The Guards at the Taj (Bush Theatre); My Brilliant Friend (Rose Kingston); Pitchfork Disney and Killer (Shoreditch Town Hall); Twelfth Night, Les Blancs, and Antigone (Evening Standard Award) (RNT); I See You and The Pride (Royal Court); Assassins and Merrily We Roll Along (Menier); Bull and When the World Was Green (Young Vic); Reasons To Be Happy (Hampstead); Urinetown (St James); The Crucible and The Duchess of Malfi (Old Vic); Reasons To Be Pretty (Almeida); The Caretaker (Olivier and ES Award nominations) (Sheffield Crucible/Tricycle); and The Commitments and The Lover (Olivier nominations) (West End). Opera credits include Noye’s Fludde (Theatre Royal Stratford East), Turn of the Screw (Regent’s Park), Quartett (ROH and tour), and Iris (Opera Holland Park).

Jon Clark is a Tony- and Olivier Award–winning lighting designer. He has designed extensively in the West End, on Broadway, for the National Theatre, Royal Opera House, Royal Shakespeare Company, and with many other companies in the UK and internationally. Theater credits include Stranger Things: The First Shadow (West End); Dear England and The Motive and The Cue (National Theatre and West End); A Doll’s House (Broadway); The Lehman Trilogy (Broadway, West End, and National Theatre); The Inheritance (Broadway, West End, and Young Vic); The Shark Is Broken, Betrayal, and King Charles III (Broadway and West End); The Jungle (St. Ann’s, West End, and Young Vic); Cyrano de Bergerac (West End and BAM); The Effect, Amadeus, Anna, Othello, and Hamlet (National Theatre); Evita (Regent’s Park); and The Lorax (Old Vic, US, and Toronto). Opera credits include Pique Dame (Bayerische Staatsoper), Hamlet (Metropolitan Opera and Glyndebourne), The Exterminating Angel (Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House, and Salzburg Festival), and Written on Skin (Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Royal Opera House, Lincoln Center, and internationally). Dance credits include LORE for Wayne McGregor (La Scala, Milan) and The Cellist for Cathy Marston (Royal Ballet). Clark won a Tony Award and Outer Critics Award for The Lehman Trilogy on Broadway, an Olivier Award for The Inheritance in the West End, and a Green Room Award for Krol Roger in Australia.

Michael “Mikey J” Asante is cofounder and co–artistic director of Boy Blue, founded in 2001 with Kenrick “H2O” Sandy. As a music producer, Asante has a diverse discography catalog, creating music for the films Street Dance 3D and All Stars and enjoying session work and production for major label artists including Delilah, Raleigh Ritchie, Estelle, George the Poet, and Kano. Asante mentors and delivers master classes in directing, choreography, and music. He is a professor of electronic music at Guildhall School of Music, where he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship (HonFGS) in 2018. Asante’s theater credits include The Effect at the National Theatre as well as Free Your Mind at the Aviva Studios, Tree at the Young Vic, and Blak Whyte Gray at the Barbican Theatre. Other credits include, for television: Criminal Record for Apple TV and collaboration with Brian Eno for the soundtrack on Top Boy; and film: Kneecap. In 2022, Asante was awarded an MBE for services to hip hop dance and music in the Queen’s New Year Honours list.

George Dennis previously worked at The Shed on Straight Line Crazy. His other theater credits include The Seagull and The Homecoming (Olivier Award nomination for Best Sound Design); Lemons x 5, The Importance of Being Earnest, A Slight Ache/The Dumb Waiter, and Sweat (also Donmar Warehouse); The Lover/The Collection and Nine Night (also National Theatre); One for the Road, A New World Order, Mountain Language, and Ashes to Ashes (West End); Blues for an Alabama Sky and An Octoroon (National Theatre); Clyde’s (Donmar Warehouse); Venice Preserved (Royal Shakespeare Company); Julie (Internationaal Theater Amsterdam); The Homecoming, Further Than the Furthest Thing, The Mountaintop, and The Island (Young Vic); The Duchess of Malfi and Three Sisters (Almeida Theatre); Mom, How Did You Meet The Beatles, Sing Yer Heart Out For The Lads, The Deep Blue Sea, and The Norman Conquests (Chichester Festival Theatre); The Southbury Child, Two Ladies, and A Very Very Very Dark Matter (Bridge Theatre); Mary Stuart and The Beacon (Staatstheater Stuttgart); Talent, Frost/Nixon, and Tribes (Crucible Theatre); Hedda Tesman, Richard III, and Spring Awakening (Headlong); Much Ado About Nothing, Imogen, and The Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare’s Globe); Harrogate, Fireworks, and Liberian Girl (Royal Court); Killer (Off-West End Award for Best Sound Design), The Pitchfork Disney (Shoreditch Town Hall; co-designed with Ben and Max Ringham); and The Convert and Eclipsed (Gate Theatre).

SAY was founded by Sarah Golding and Yukiko Masui in 2019, and they have been associate artists at Dance East since 2022. In 2020, they were selected by The Place to be part of the Choreodrome residency to develop the concept for their show titled the album, which has since then toured nationally and internationally. They performed an excerpt of this piece at the National Theatre Riverstage 2032 (the album: live). Alongside this they were commissioned to create a family version of the show that is in its third year of touring to schools and festivals (the album: skool edition). As a duo they have created a dance film, SAY: AF, with the international festival Dance Umbrella, have recently been featured dancers in the film The Marvels, and were dance captains and performers in the Commonwealth Opening Ceremony 2022. SAY has recently created a piece for TRINITY LABAN (Break It Down) and NDCWales (SAY Something), which is currently touring nationally and internationally including Six Nations rugby’s halftime in Paris.

Kate Waters has been an Equity-registered fight director since 2001, directing fights for theater, TV, and film. She has worked for many of the UK’s major theaters including the National Theatre, Royal Court, RSC, Donmar, The Globe, and in the West End. She is also a qualified boxing coach, coaches at Rathbone Amateur Boxing Club, and is also an England Coach. Waters’s credits include, for the National Theatre, The Father and the Assassin; The Effect; Small Island; Much Ado About Nothing; Frankenstein; One Man, Two Guvnors; War Horse; Hamlet; Othello; and Women Beware Women. For The Jamie Lloyd Company and ATG: Cyrano de Bergerac, Macbeth, Richard III, The Maids, The Pride, The Hothouse, The Ruling Class, East Is East. Recent theater credits include Macbeth (Wessex Grove, Liverpool, Edinburgh, London, Washington); Portia Coughlan, King Lear, The Secret Life of Bees, and The Tragedy of Macbeth (Almeida); Lord of the Flies (Leeds Playhouse); Private Lives and Clydes: Henry V (Donmar); Sweat (Donmar and Gielgud Theatre); Julius Caesar and Henry IV (Donmar, Kings Cross Theatre, and St. Ann’s Warehouse, Brooklyn); Tina: The Tina Turner Musical (West End and Germany); Hamnet (RSC/West End); Peter Pan, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Evita (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); Guys & Dolls, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Julius Caesar (Bridge Theatre); The Curious Incident of The Dog in the Night-Time (National Theatre/ West End); and Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads (Chichester Festival Theatre). Film credits include My Policeman, Death of England, Romeo and Juliet, Pond Life, and Making Noises Quietly. Television credits include Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Hollyoaks, Kisses & Bumflicks, and Coronation Street Live.

Ingrid Mackinnon is an intimacy director, movement director, and choreographer. Intimacy credits include The Duchess of Malfi (Globe), The House of Bernarda Alba (National Theatre), Choir Boy (Bristol Old Vic), Shooting Hedda Gabler (Rose Theatre), Sunset Boulevard (Savoy Theatre), That Face (Orange Tree), The Effect (National Theatre), Tina: The Tina Turner Musical (Aldwych Theatre), Es & Flo (Wales Millennium Centre/Kiln), Phaedra (National Theatre), Super High Resolution (Soho Theatre), Enough of Him (National Theatre of Scotland), and Girl on An Altar (Kiln). Mackinnon was a season associate at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in 2022 – 23. As movement director and choreographer, credits include The Duchess of Malfi (Globe), The Big Life (Stratford East), Dreaming and Drowning (Bush Theatre), Choir Boy (Bristol Old Vic), Portia Coughlan (Almeida Theatre), Shooting Hedda Gabler (Rose Theatre), That Face (Orange Tree), Every Leaf a Hallelujah (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), The Meaning of Zong (Barbican/Bristol Old Vic/UK Tour), Blue (ENO), Further Than the Furthest Thing (Young Vic), Trouble in Butetown (Donmar Warehouse), Enough of Him (National Theatre of Scotland), The Darkest Part of The Night and Girl on an Altar (Kiln), Playboy of the West Indies (Birmingham Rep), Moreno (Theatre 503), Red Riding Hood (Stratford East), and Romeo and Juliet (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre; Black British Theatre Award 2021 Best Choreography).

Alastair Coomer CDG is the head of casting at the National Theatre. He was previously the casting director at the Donmar Warehouse. For the National Theatre, Coomer has worked on over 50 productions including Till the Stars Come Down; The House of Bernarda Alba; The Motive and the Cue; The Crucible (also West End); Blues for an Alabama Sky; The Corn Is Green; The Normal Heart; The Welkin; The Ocean at the End of the Lane; Mosquitoes; This House; The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time; One Man, Two Guvnors; and War Horse. In London’s West End: City of Angels, Company, This House, American Buffalo, and Much Ado About Nothing. For the Donmar Warehouse casting includes The Weir, Coriolanus, My Night with Reg, Privacy, City of Angels, The Vote, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Elegy, Faith Healer, Saint Joan, and Limehouse. Coomer’s film credits include Mary Queen of Scots.

Jonathan Glew is a theater director, composer, and dramaturg. He has worked extensively in collaboration with Jamie Lloyd as his associate director on The Effect, A Doll’s House (Hudson Theatre, NYC), The Seagull (Harold Pinter Theatre, West End), Betrayal (Harold Pinter Theatre, West End and Bernard B. Jacobs, NYC), and The Lover/Collection (Harold Pinter Theatre, West End). As a director Glew has recently directed a self-penned adaptation of Spring Awakening and The IT at The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. Other work for LIPA includes Girls Like That and Second Person Narrative. Other theater credits include Happy Birthday Harold! (Harold Pinter Theatre, West End), River Ditty (Glass Half Full Productions), Story Lab (Kiln Theatre), and John Lennon in His Own Write (Edinburgh Festival and V&A). As a composer and lyricist he has written two full-length musicals, A Rake’s Progress and Treasure Island, and is currently working on a new musical on attachment with the National Theatre. He continues to write music for theater, television, and film. Credits include The Nightcrawler (Dizzy O’Dare), She Can Go Anywhere (Story Craft Theatre/York Theatre Royal), Born Of Hope (Actors at Work Productions), Ren (Mythica), Justice (BBC), and Things Will Never Be The Same Again (Tricycle Theatre).

Joel Price trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. Theater credits include, for the National Theatre: Dear Octopus; as sound designer, Up Next Gala 2024, Perspective, I Want My Hat Back, A Declaration from the People, and Young Patron’s Gala. In London’s West End: Crazy for You, Get Up Stand Up! – The Bob Marley Musical, Blithe Spirit, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Other theater includes, as sound designer, Black Love at the Kiln Theatre; Afterglow at Southwark Playhouse; Sweeney Todd at Twickenham; Lost in Theatre – Recorded Plays for the Royal Court; and The Devil Inside Him at the White Bear. As associate sound designer, work includes Paradise at the National Theatre; Peter Pan at the Troubadour; The Second Violinist at the Irish National Opera; Arlington and Ballyturk for Galway International Arts Festival; The Fifth Column at Southwark Playhouse; The Events for Artists Touring Company; and If You Don’t Let Us Dream, We Won’t Let You Sleep at the Royal Court. Short film credits include HOME: Aamir’s Story. Price currently works at the National Theatre as a sound and video supervisor, where he has worked on many productions including Hadestown, Angels in America, Network, and The Lehman Trilogy.

Brandon Allmon-Jackson is a New York–based stage manager and is thrilled to be reuniting with The Jamie Lloyd Company following last year’s production of A Doll’s House on Broadway. The Effect marks his Shed debut with previous credits including Back to the Future (Broadway), The Music Man (Broadway), and five years with Royal Caribbean International where he stage managed large-scale-production shows. He’s also worked in various regional theaters across the country such as George Street Playhouse, Goodspeed Opera, Arkansas Repertory, and the Phoenix Theatre of Indianapolis. In addition to live theater, Allmon-Jackson has dabbled in the world of television, working on shows such as Peacock’s Girls5Eva and TBS’s The Last OG. Outside of stage managing, he is a passionate advocate and supporter of better diversity and inclusion in the arts. Thanks to Jamie for his trust and inspiration, Matthew H. for saying yes, and Matthew G. for his unwavering love and support.

Matthew Henao is a proud Colombian American hailing from Miami, Florida. Raised on rain, sunshine, and empanadas, he studied theater and materials science and engineering at the University of Florida. Most recently, he was the assistant stage manager on the Broadway musical Shucked and is thrilled to continue working with such inspiring artists on his first show at The Shed. Some of his past productions include The Phantom of the Opera, Aladdin, The Music Man, Take Me Out, Dear Evan Hansen, and the first national tours of Hadestown and Frozen. Other NYC credits include Sleep No More, Only Gold (MCC Theater), and various projects with the Public Theater, New York Theatre Workshop, Ars Nova, Clubbed Thumb, and the Juilliard School. When not managing stages, he enjoys yoga, puzzling, reading, gaming, and eating cookies. Much love to his mamita linda, Brandon, family, and friends.

Alex Poots, Artistic Director
Madani Younis, Chief Executive Producer
Laura Aswad, Producer
Daisy Peele, Associate Producer
Marc Warren, Director of Production
Ben Young, Production Manager
Kellie McMenemon-Schultz, Production Administrator

Jonathan Glew, Associate Director
Joel Price, Associate Sound Designer
Adrien Corcilius, Production Video Supervisor
Dylan De Buitléar, Sound Operator
Anna Josephs, UK Costume Supervisor
Alberta Jones, UK Prop Supervisor
Natalia Castilla, Hair and Makeup Supervisor
Heather Doole, Production Management Consultant
Simon Chue, Assistant to the Composer
Hands On, ASL Interpretation
Brandon Allmon-Jackson, Production Stage Manager
Matthew Henao, Assistant Stage Manager
Madelynn Poulson, Production Assistant
Dave Hurley, Sound Lead
Michael Fudge, Head Lighting
Josh Galitzer, Head Carpenter
Ann Comanar, Head Wardrobe
Scenery by Josh Galitzer
Additional staging by Steel Deck
Additional lighting and video equipment by PRG
Additional audio equipment by Sound Associates
Brooke Wentz, The Rights Workshop, Music Licensing
Polk & Co., Press Representatives
Thanks to Vicky Eames, Rose Hirschel, and Tzell Travel

Creating The Effect

In this miniseries produced by the National Theatre, hear from the creative team and cast about the staging of Lucy Prebble’s critically acclaimed play before its opening in London last fall.

over 1 year ago

Creating the Character

over 1 year ago

Creating the Space

over 1 year ago

Creating the Sound

Acknowledgments

Very special thanks to our dear colleagues at the National Theatre and the American Associates of the National Theatre: everyone who worked on the original production in the Lyttelton and all those who assisted in bringing The Effect to The Shed.

The stage managers employed in this production are members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States. The Shed operates under an agreement between The Shed and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

Backstage crew employees are represented by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (or I.A.T.S.E.).

The director is a member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, Inc., an independent national labor union.

Details

Running time: 1 hour and 50 minutes with no intermission. There will be strictly no late seating, and no re-entry during the performance.
This production contains strong language and adult themes. Not recommended for those under the age of 12.
There are strobe/flashing lights, smoke, and haze effects, with some loud music.
Some scenes include sexual content, physical aggression, depictions of seizures, and references to depression, anxiety, and suicide.
For mental health resources, visit the National Institute of Mental Health’s website.

Accessibility

Seating

The Shed’s Griffin Theater has accessible seating. Please contact us in advance to discuss your needs and available options by emailing accessibility@theshed.org or calling (646) 455-3949.

ASL Interpretation

The performance on March 20 at 7 pm will feature American Sign Language interpretation by Hands On. To reserve tickets, please visit the Hands On website. Please email info@theshed.org or call (646) 455-3494 for more information.

Assistive Listening

Visitors may check out assistive listening devices at the entrance to the theater. A driver’s license will be held to check out the device.

Purchasing Tickets

The Shed’s online ticketing system includes the option to submit accommodation requests beyond the access points detailed here.

Contact Us

For questions or other requests, visit the Accessibility page, email accessibility@theshed.org, or call (646) 455-3494.

Location and dates

This event takes place in The Griffin Theater.

March 3 – 31, 2024 Preview performances: March 3 – 13 The Shed’s Griffin Theater is located at 545 West 30th Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues. View The Shed on a map. For information about accessibility and arriving at The Shed, visit our Accessibility page.

Seat Map

Thank you to our partners

Major support for The Effect is provided by

The Under 30 Tickets initiative for The Effect is supported by Melanie and Neeraj Chandra, Natalia Quintero and Peter Boyce II, and Patrick Finnegan.

The creation of new work at The Shed is generously supported by the Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch Commissioning Fund and the Shed Commissioners.

Major support for live productions at The Shed is provided by the Charina Endowment Fund, with additional support from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

The Shed is connected by