MTC's THE EFFECT Begins 21 August

William McInnes and Sigrid Thornton make their highly anticipated return to the MTC stage alongside Nathaniel Dean and Zahra Newman in The Effect. Exploring our pill-popping culture, our love of being in love, and what's real in a world where millions are living in a chemically controlled reality, The Effect opens Thursday 21 August 2014 at Southbank Theatre, The Sumner.

This funny, moving play reunites Sigrid Thornton (A Streetcar Named Desire) and William McInnes (Time of our Lives) for the first time since SeaChange, pairing them up as a perfect foil for Zahra Newman (MTC's The Mountaintop) and Nathaniel Dean (The Secret River) as their characters examine the limits of medicine and the inevitability of physical attraction.

Director Leticia Cáceres said 'There is only one word for Lucy Prebble's The Effect: arresting. Moving at breakneck pace, this play has such an extraordinary visceral power, after reading it I felt out of breath. I'm ecstatic about collaborating with four extraordinary actors and an incredible creative team to bring this work to life and create a truly moving night at the theatre.'

Connie, a clever psychology student, and Tristan, an unemployed drifter, volunteer for a clinical drug trial testing the effects of an anti-depressant, RLU37. Spending time together they soon fall in love and, although closely monitored, the resourceful lovers find ways to escape the watchful eye of their clinicians. As their romance throws the trial off-course they begin to question whether their love is real or just a chemical side effect.

Lucy Prebble is one of Britain's most celebrated young writers for stage and screen. In 2013 The Effect won Best New Play at the Critic's Circle Awards. Her play, Enron, transferred to the West End and Broadway in 2010 after sell out seasons at The Royal Court and Chichester Festival Theatre. Enron won Best New Play at the TMA Theatre Awards, and was shortlisted for The Evening Standard Award and Olivier Award for Best New Play. Currently she is adapting it for Sony Pictures. Her other plays include Liquid, and The Sugar Syndrome which won her the prestigious George Devine Award in 2004. Prebble also created and wrote the popular TV series Secret Diary of a Call Girl.

MTC Associate Director Leticia Cáceres has been lauded as one of the most exciting talents in the country. For MTC she directed Cock, Constellations, Helicopter and Random (nominated for three Green Room Awards); for Belvoir she directed Miss Julie and The Dark Room (nominated for seven Sydney Theatre Awards); and for QTC, The Orphanage Project, Far Away, and Memory of Water. She is co-founder of independent theatre company, RealTV whose award-winning works include Hoods (nominated for a 2008 Helpmann Award), War Crimes, and Children of the Black Skirt.

Cast Nathaniel Dean (Tristan), William McInnes (Toby), Zahra Newman (Connie), Sigrid Thornton (Dr James)

Director Leticia Cáceres; Assistant Director Kate Sulan; Set Designer Andrew Bailey; Costume Designer Kate Davis; Lighting Designer Damien Cooper; Composer & Sound Designer THE SWEATS; Video Designer Chris More

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