Over the weekend, Yale College theater veterans put on a production of Lucy Prebble’s “The Effect” in the Saybrook Underbrook from Oct. 24 to 26. The sold-out, four-show run was a hit –– a very palpable hit –– complete with standing ovations. 

The play follows two volunteers, Connie, played by Isabella Walther-Meade ’25.5, and Tristan, played by José Sarmiento ’25, who meet and fall in love during a clinical drug trial. The two  supervising doctors, Dr. James and Dr. Sealey, played by Layla Felder ’26 and Abram Knott ’27, respectively, worry that this relationship will interfere with the study and are unsure if Connie and Tristan’s feelings for each other are natural or merely a side effect of the drug.

Natural or side effect — the play urges viewers to embrace their feelings. 

“Maybe joy and sorrow are in a prickly, inseparable relationship. Maybe the adult thing to do is to look our emotions in the eye and truly feel them,” writes director Emiliano Caceres Manzano  ’26 in his director’s note.  

Abram Knott ’27 plays the role of Dr. Sealey. Courtesy of Elio Wentzel.

The power of this play lies in its dual comedic and dramatic intensity. The play quickly switches between the two, and in some cases, layers in both simultaneously. 

In Connie and Tristan’s “meet cute,” the two are holding their urine samples. As a gentlemanly gesture, Tristan offers to hold Connie’s sample, to which Connie vehemently declines. The discomfort of knowing that a stranger is holding your still-warm urine is, of course,  understandable. 

Tristan proceeds to tease Connie until she caves and touches his urine sample to prove a point. “Well,” Tristan responds, “you’re gonna have to be my friend now.” 

In what Walther-Meade describes as her favorite scene of the show, Connie and Tristan sneak out of the experiment to a nearby abandoned mental hospital. 

“There is something so physical and exciting about the moment when you really start to connect with somebody — the hesitation, the flirting, the way they start to read each other’s minds,” said Walther-Meade.

In addition to starring as Connie, Walther-Meade produced the play alongside Victoria Mnatsakanyan ’27. According to stage manager Angelica Peruzzi ’27, the trust built between cast and crew-members was a key ingredient to the show’s success, especially given the play’s heavier themes of mental health issues. 

This collaborative spirit also gave way to the impressive technical effects that took place behind the scenes. 

According to Mnatsakanyan, technical innovation can be a challenge in CPA productions due to budget and location constraints, but the team triumphed nonetheless. Utilizing projections, theater-in-the-round staging, and a wall of mirrors, the set design fully immerses the audience in the sterile, disorienting experiment. 

“I wanted to give sound, projections, lights, props, and costumes just as much of a chance to shine as the actors. They were the ones who truly built the world of the trial as something for the audience to inhabit,” said Caceres Manzano.

Isabella Walther-Meade ’25.5 and José Sarmiento ’25 play the roles of Conne and Tristan, respectively. Courtesy of Elio Wentzel.

Sound also played an important role in creating the tense, clinical atmosphere. 

Sound designer Dorothy Ha ’28 achieved the recurring transition sound – air escaping from an airtight container – by combining the breath of a scuba diver with the opening of a pickle jar.

“In high school theater, I was often told that people will only notice sound if it’s going badly, so if no one says anything, that means you’re doing it right,” said Ha. “It has been an amazing feeling to have my sound designs noticed and praised.” 

“The Effect” team has more exciting projects on the horizon. Caceres Manzano and AJ Walker ’26 are co-directing a production of “Company” by Stephen Sondheim & George Furth, set to run in late January. Walther-Meade will co-direct the Dramat Spring-Ex, “Gloria” by Branden Jacobs Jenkins, alongside Betty Kubovy-Weiss ’25, who was also the costume designer for “The Effect.” 

“Gloria” will take place in the University Theater from Feb. 13 to 15.