The Effect
by Lucy Prebble
directed by David Cromer
Barrow Street Theatre
June 25, 2016
Production website

💉💉💉 out of 5.

Is it dopamine or is it love? That is a new question for the stage. The Effect is a fascinating story of a drug trial clinic that uses both a male and a female as guinea pigs. They are both (?) given increasingly larger doses of a new, experimental anti-depressant to test its effect and side effects. And as they become attached to each other, they question the source of this attraction . . . Continue reading The Effect →

Shining City
book by Conor McPherson
with Matthew Broderick
directed by Ciaran O’Reilly
Irish Repertory Theatre
June 25, 2016
Production website

💉 out of 5.

I love the wonderful ghost stories of Conor McPherson – but, lordy, I didn’t find much to enjoy here. Matthew Broderick, in the pivotal role , just falls flat for me. I couldn’t figure out if he was a flat and plastic actor content to just be himself for this withdrawn character or whether he was actually working to be flat and plastic – but the result was certainly flat and plastic. Continue reading Shining City →