THE RENDITION MEETS THE CAST OF THE EFFECT
“It matches my theory that actors should find themselves in the characters and the characters in themselves. It’s not that they are putting on a role or artifice, they are discovering something in themselves and bringing that to the world.”
Last week we sat down with Paapa Essiedu, Taylor Russell, and Jamie Lloyd as they prepare for the opening of The Effect at The National Theatre.
The Effect follows Connie (Taylor Russell) and Tristan (Paapa Essiedu), two young volunteers who take part in a clinical drug trial. As Connie and Tristan begin to fall for one another, their illicit romance poses startling dilemmas for the supervising doctors. Is their sudden and intoxicating chemistry real, or a side effect of a new antidepressant?
Hear from the cast and team as they give us an insight into their artistic processes; discussing creative collaboration, the role of the audience, and how they maintain energy in the rehearsal room.
“[The show] hasn’t been one of those ones where we’re trying to recreate something, but instead, we’re trying to create something organic and instinct lead that was born in here.”
INTRODUCTION FROM JAMIE:
Jamie Lloyd: No exaggeration, this is one of the most special rehearsal periods of my entire career. It's a very open, collaborative and creative process that's been nothing but a joy. To work on Lucy's play, which I think is becoming a modern classic, really allows us to dig deep into the human psyche and emotion. That's very important to me because I really believe that theatre is a place where we can learn something about ourselves and each other, and you absolutely do when you're experiencing this play. You can only do that if you have an amazing cast, which we do, so it's a joy to come to work every day.
QUESTION: The Effect is quite a complex production. What research are you doing ahead of rehearsals?
Paapa Essiedu: I suppose one of the lessons we've had with this particular process is having the playwright in the room quite a lot.
This is a play that existed in an iteration before, but we’ve kind of allowed it to organically come towards us so that it represents where we are in 2023 vs 2012 when it first came out. Lucy has a vast store of knowledge when it comes to context, so I think for us what we’ve tried to do is allow our play to emerge in this room. Jaime has really facilitated this….he's really tried to strip back as much as possible to allow the play to live and vibrate in a specific way [that reflects] the creatives that have put it together. [The show] hasn't been one of those ones where we’re trying to recreate something, but instead, we’re trying to create something organic and instinct lead that was born in here.
Jamie Lloyd: It's a highly intelligent play and Lucy is a highly intelligent playwright, so my feeling was never to get bogged down in the academics but actually, it's more about what’s going on spontaneously between these people; the physical, the emotional and the visceral.
QUESTION: You mentioned Lucy being in the room, is that to give you more insight into what she wants or meant when she wrote it? Or, is her presence to help incorporate the changes due to the fact that the cast is now made up of People of Colour?
Jamie Lloyd: What is amazing about Lucy, and I've never experienced this with another playwright, is that she writes around whoever is playing the roles.
Each time it's been done (it’s been done various times around the world, this is just the first major revival here) she’s always made it specific to those people. Getting to know the actors…she starts to shape it to what feels appropriate to them. Also, what's amazing is there's been lots of discussions with Lucy about scenes that have been rewritten in collaboration with the actors. She’s so open to a whole new approach. This play has never been done like this, it's unlike any other production of the play. She’s a real collaborator in that way, it's all about making it work in this room with these people and all the collaborators that are here. It's an exceptional experience. It matches my theory that the actors should find themselves in the characters and the characters in themselves. It's not that they are putting on a role or artifice. They are discovering something in themselves and bringing that to the world.
Paapa Essiedu: Obviously before, my part was played by Jonjo O’Neill and Taylors part, played by Billie Piper & although Taylor has a good Wiltshire accent, reimagining that was quickly pushed aside. Lucy has been intimate to our process but not intrusive, she doesn't interrupt. She’s got this thing where she’ll sit on the back table at the back of the room pretending she's not watching but she is. She'll go get a cup of tea, she'll come back in and deliver a note, and just like that she’ll crack open something that we've been struggling with and then she’ll go back! She's so insightful and outward looking in her process, she's not trying to make us do her play, she’s trying to bring her play to us and allow us to make it into something new and specific..it's been a real joy. You don't always get that with writer’s in the room. There's something about collaboration in creative teams that produces the most exciting and alive work. Lucy is a real one for playing a part in facilitating that.
QUESTION: It sounds like the play is evolving specifically around you guys. So, what kind of work do you have to do to enter and exit the characters and the play? Especially when dealing with such big themes?
Taylor Russell: Part of me feels like it takes a long time to figure that out, with anything, any type of project or character. It would be nice if it was so cut and dry but often it's kind of messy. What I'm finding in this process - which I really feel grateful for - is that with Paapa there's a really nice connection. As long as you make it about your scene partner and being as present as possible, hopefully it’s just bottled within the space and then when you leave that, it feels separate in some way which is mysterious.
Paapa Essiedu: I think it's built into the structure of how we work. We're doing very focused but short days, and at the National were blessed with having longer rehearsal periods. A lot of the anxiety that I usually associate with rehearsal periods is; Where am I standing? What prop am I holding? All of that stuff has been taken out the way which allows the facilitation of connection. It's not necessarily about repetition-repetition, re-draft and re-draft but letting it settle and embed in and coming back to it. That allows me at least to not get lost in the minutiae of “why didn't I say that line like that” and “I need to do it again until I get it” or “I should've hit that beat like that” all that becomes very internal and the strife is great but if the rehearsal process is structured correctly, you can have lightness and the freedom to explore. The challenge for us is then to carry that into the show, not do the same show twice, and respect the newness of the audience. For me it's all about how you structure these things, that’s what allows you to make a separation between the stress of the work and the fact that there is a world out there.
QUESTION: What do you want the audience to take away?
Jamie Lloyd: As I said in the beginning, theatre is a space to learn something about ourselves, seeing our own minds, seeing our nonsense and delusions as well as all our positive qualities. Everything we're doing is to try and ensure the audience are co-authors in this experience which is why there is no literal hospital bed, there are no props, everything needs to be in the imagination so it puts the emphasis on the actors, on the words, on the emotional and psychological journey. The audience have to fill in the gaps - really radically listen. Listen with every cell of their being, (not just their ears) so that they’re really connecting deeply and taking [the story] within themselves.
QUESTION: To end, can you tell us something fun that happens in the rehearsal room that you didn’t expect?
Jamie Lloyd: It’s an amazing bunch of people in the room, who all contribute and bring a lot of energy and insight. There’s music in the rehearsal room, dance and movement. I think people often think of theatre as being very dry and cerebral, self indulgent, whereas I always say, “we’re going to take the work seriously, we’re not going to take ourselves seriously” and that very much is the spirit of the room. It’s a lot of fun, there’s a lot of you know - banter!
Paapa Essiedu: Taylor’s English accents throughout the day are especially entertaining. She comes in with all this lingo -
Jamie Lloyd: I’ll say let’s have a tea break, Taylor comes out with “Bangers and mash!”
Taylor Russell: we’re going to put it on a T-shirt, make it our official merch.
You can catch The Effect at the National Theatre from 01 August — 07 October.