KS4 KS5

How We Staged It: The Effect - education resource videos

Directing Drama Lighting, sound, video Production Arts

A blue-tinted photomontage split into four quadrants, with portraits of Taylor Russell in the top-left and Paapa Essiedu in the top-right, Paapa and Taylor about to kiss in the bottom-left and Taylor touching her neck, eyes closed, in the bottom-right.

Overview

This resource explores some of the key components behind the staging of the National Theatre’s 2023 production of The Effect by Lucy Prebble, directed by Jamie Lloyd.

Learning outcomes

This resource is designed to support students studying the play in Drama at GCSE and A Level.

Watch

A large white stage is pictured below a lighting rig. The rest of the theatre is dark.

Play Video

How We Staged It: Creating the Sound in The Effect

How composer Mikey J Asante wrote the music for Lucy Prebble’s The Effect, directed by Jamie Lloyd and starring Paapa Essiedu and Taylor Russell.

Play Video:

How We Staged It: Creating the Sound in The Effect

How composer Mikey J Asante wrote the music for Lucy Prebble’s The Effect, directed by Jamie Lloyd and starring Paapa Essiedu and Taylor Russell.

A person wearing a dark shirt and trousers sits in a dimly lit setting. TThey have one keep up and are resting their arms on it. They are dramatically lit against a dark, smoky background.

Play Video

How We Staged It: Creating the Space in The Effect

How writer Lucy Prebble worked with the stages team to present The Effect, directed by Jamie Llloyd and starring Paapa Essiedu and Taylor Russell.

Play Video:

How We Staged It: Creating the Space in The Effect

How writer Lucy Prebble worked with the stages team to present The Effect, directed by Jamie Llloyd and starring Paapa Essiedu and Taylor Russell.

Two people wearing identical grey hoodies, stand back-to-back.

Play Video

How We Staged It: Creating the Characters in The Effect

Discover how Paapa Essiedu and Taylor Russell discovered their characters in Lucy Prebble’s The Effect, directed by Jamie Lloyd.

Play Video:

How We Staged It: Creating the Characters in The Effect

Discover how Paapa Essiedu and Taylor Russell discovered their characters in Lucy Prebble’s The Effect, directed by Jamie Lloyd.

Production information

Lyttelton Theatre, 2023.

The Effect by Lucy Prebble; directed by Jamie Lloyd; set and costume design by Soutra Gilmour; lighting design by Jon Clark; music by Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante; sound design by George Dennis; movement direction by Sarah Golding & Yukiko Masui (SAY); fight direction by Kate Waters; intimacy coordination by Ingrid Mackinnon.

Photography © Marc Brenner

Suitability

Suitable for 14+/KS4+

Content warning

Some scenes in this play include sexual content, strong language, physical aggression, depictions of seizures and references to depression, anxiety and suicide.

Keywords

The Effect, Lucy Prebble, Jamie Lloyd, GCSE Drama, A Level Drama, Space, Character, Sound

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