STAGED READING

“THE EFFECT” BY LUCY PREBBLE

monday, MAY 25 @ 7 PM

Oakland Theater Project’s Directing Fellowship provides a free training program and an opportunity to study and direct as part of our professional theater company for the 2026 Season.

Join us Monday, May 25 at 7 p.m. for a FREE staged reading of The Effect by Lucy Prebble, directed by OTP Directing Fellow Santiago Cuen. The cast includes OTP Acting Fellows Zolboo Namkhaidorj as Dr Toby, April Ballesteros as Dr Lorna, Leo Kearney as Tristan Frey, and Amelia Grace Costales Downey as Connie Hall.

The Effect is a clinical romance. Two young volunteers, Tristan and Connie, agree to take part in a drug trial. Succumbing to the gravitational pull of attraction and love, however, Tristan and Connie manage to throw the trial off-course, much to the frustration of the clinicians involved. This funny, moving and perhaps surprisingly human play explores questions of sanity, neurology and the limits of medicine, alongside ideas of fate, loyalty and the inevitability of physical attraction.

Run Time: 2 hours, including a 10 minute intermission

Location: Oakland Theater Project (1501 MLK Jr Way, Oakland)

Tickets: FREE at the link below

Questions about the Fellowship Program? Please email Mylo Cardona at mcardona@oaklandtheaterproject.org.