Lucy Prebble's THE EFFECT to Open at Barrow Street Theatre Next Spring; David Cromer to Direct

The National Theatre of Great Britain's North American wing (Tim Levy, Producer) in collaboration with Scott Morfee, Jean Doumanian, Tom Wirtshafter, and Patrick Daly have announced the North American premiere of playwright Lucy Prebble's award-winning new play The Effect. With direction by David Cromer, the entirely American production of The Effect will open at the Barrow Street Theatre (27 Barrow Street at 7th Avenue) in March 2016. Additional information will be announced shortly.

The Effect won the 2012 UK Critics' Circle Award for Best New Play. David Cromer most recently collaborated with Barrow Street Theatre and Jean Doumanian Productions on the critically acclaimed North American premiere of Tribes, and the landmark, record-breaking production of Our Town.

In The Effect, Connie is a psychology student. Tristan is a charming drifter. Both have signed up to a clinical trial for a new antidepressant super-drug. Sealed off from the outside world, the attraction between Connie and Tristan turns into deeper feelings as their doses get stronger. They've been warned of side effects - can they trust their feelings, or is this just a chemical romance?

As the trial's overseeing physician and her superior contend with the illicit relationship of their charges, they become increasingly conflicted about the ethical implications of their work. It's soon clear that neither is objective about the complex issues that surround them.

Barrow Street Theatre is located at 27 Barrow Street at 7th Avenue South in the heart of Greenwich Village. Nearby subway stops are the 1 at Christopher Street (walk 1 block South on 7th Avenue to Barrow) and the A, C, E, B, D, F and M at West 4th (walk West on 4th Street, left on Barrow).

Founded in 1963, the National Theatre is dedicated to making the very best theatre and sharing it with as many people as possible. Around 25 productions are staged in its theatres on the South Bank of the Thames each year; the National's work is also seen on tour throughout the UK and internationally. Popular shows transfer to the West End and to Broadway, such as the Tony Award-winning The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, currently playing at the Barrymore Theatre. Through National Theatre Live, performances are broadcast to 2,000 cinemas in 50 countries around the world. Online, the NT offers a rich variety of innovative digital content on every aspect of theatre. In 2015, the National's work was seen by over four million people worldwide.

The Barrow Street Theatre, founded in 2003 by Scott Morfee and Tom Wirtshafter, is located in New York's West Village. Past productions include: Duncan Macmillan's Every Brilliant Thing, Ike Holter's Hit The Wall, Nina Raine's Tribes, Fiasco Theater's production of Cymbeline, Craig Wright's Mistakes Were Made, Thornton Wilder's Our Town, Gone Missing by the Civilians, No Child... by Nilaja Sun, Orson's Shadow by Austin Pendelton, BUG by Tracy Letts, TJ & DAVE, Eat the Taste by Greg Kotis, an oak tree by Tim Crouch, and Hip Nos in association with Axis Theatre, Dublin.

Jean Doumanian is an Academy Award and Golden Globe nominated, and Tony Award winning, film, television and theatrical producer. She has produced over 25 theatrical productions, including recent hits Every Brilliant Thing, Tribes, Cymbeline, Mistakes Were Made, and Our Town all at the Barrow Street Theatre, Chimerica, The Mountaintop in London, and on Broadway starring Samuel L. Jackson and Angela Bassett, August: Osage County, The Book of Mormon, and the 2012 revival of Death of a Salesman. Films: UNA (dir. Benedict Andrews, screenplay by Oliver Award winner David Harrower, starring Rooney Mara, Ben Mendelsohn), August: Osage County (dir. John Wells, two 2014 Academy Award nominations).

Lucy Prebble is the author of the plays The Sugar Syndrome and ENRON, as well as the television series "Secret Diary of a Call Girl." The Effect, which premiered at the National Theatre in 2012 in a co-production with Headlong, won the Critics' Circle Award for Best New Play. She has also been the recipient of the prestigious George Devine Award and 'Theatre Awards UK' award for Best New Play. She is currently developing a scripted comedic television series with comedienne Sarah Silverman for HBO.

David Cromer returns to the Barrow Street where he directed Tribes, Our Town, Orson's Shadow and Adding Machine (at the Minetta Lane). His production of Our Town has played in London, Boston, Los Angeles, Kansas City, and Chicago. At Lincoln Center he directed Nikolai and the Others and When the Rain Stops Falling. On Broadway he directed revivals of The House of Blue Leaves and Brighton Beach Memoirs. Credits in his native Chicago include Sweet Bird of Youth at the Goodman, A Streetcar Named Desire, Picnic, and The Price at Writers Theatre, and Cherrywood, Mojo, and Hot l Baltimore at Mary-Arrchie. In 2010 he was a recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship.

For more information, visit www.barrowstreettheatre.com.

Photo by Walter McBride