ABOUT THE PLAY
Colorado Premiere
A man and a woman enter a clinical trial for an antidepressant and fall madly in love.
Was it the Dopamine, delivered in ever increasing quantities, that ignites the spark between them, or their natural connection and affinity for one another.
Acclaimed British playwright Lucy Prebble explores what it means to manipulate our emotions and our brains in the age of biohacking.
At a time when modern pharmaceutical companies promise to lift depression, boost the libido and help concentrate the mind, The Effect poses the question — what is real in the way we think, dream, and love?
BOULDER TICKETS — In Boulder Only!
RUN TIME
The Effect is expected to run approximately 95 minutes, with no intermission.
CONTENT CONSIDERATIONS
The Effect contains adult language and sexually charged scenes.
BETC does not offer more specific advisories about the subject matter, as sensitivities vary from person to person. If you have any questions about content or age-appropriateness, please call the BETC Office at 303-351-2382.
“Electric and powerfully precarious, The Effect is food for the brain.”
SHOW SCHEDULE
BOULDER
The Dairy Arts Center (Grace Gamm Theater)
Thursday, April 15, 7:00 pm - Preview
Friday, April 16, 7:00 pm - Preview
Saturday, April 17, 7:00 pm - Opening
Sunday, April 18, 2:00 pm
Friday, April 23, 7:00 pm
Saturday, April 24, 7:00 pm
*Sunday, April 25, 2:00 pm* - Parents-Paint-the-Town
Monday, April 26, 7:00 pm - Industry Night
Friday, April 30, 7:00 pm
Saturday, May 1, 7:00 pm
Sunday, May 2, 2:00 pm
Friday, May 7, 7:00 pm
Saturday, May 8, 7:00 pm
Sunday, May 9, 2:00 pm
*Parents-Paint-the-Town - we invite parents to enjoy a show for $25 while treating their kids to a fun, creative, and FREE workshop!*
“Glittering and mercurial, The Effect offers a “remorselessly clear-eyed look at its subject matter.”
TICKETS & DISCOUNTS
SUBSCRIPTIONS
The Effect is part of the 2026-2027 Boulder Season Subscription package. Using the code provided to them, subscribers will receive 10% off of additional single tickets beyond their subscriptions.
TICKETS
Single tickets for the Friday-Sunday performances are $42.00. Preview tickets are $25.00.
Students can get $15.00 tickets and must show a valid student ID at the theatre.
Purchased tickets from the Dairy Arts Center will be emailed to you directly from the box office, and copies can be found on your Dairy Arts Center account.
BOULDER TICKETS — In Boulder Only!
EVENTS
Sunday, April 25, 2:00 pm - Parents-Paint-the-Town
We invite parents to enjoy a show for $25 while treating their kids to a fun, creative, and FREE workshop!
ARTS INDUSTRIES
Are you a member of a not-for-profit arts and cultural organization or work in the theatre community?
Reach out to us for any questions about ticket discounts offered at tickets@betc.org.
GROUP SALES
Looking to purchase tickets to a show for a group of 10 or more? BETC offers generous discounts for groups of 10+. If you are seeking special group arrangements, please call us at 303-351-2382.
“Heady and scintillating…”
CAST
Maria Cina (CONNIE HALL) - Maria Cina (she/they) is a 2025 transplant from Wyoming, originally hailing from Madison, Wisconsin where they began acting at the age of 13. Since then, she has acted, directed, costumed, and makeup designed, working within the educational, community, and professional sectors of the industry. The Effect is Maria’s debut with BETC. Recent performance credits include Various Roles in the Denver Center for the Performing Arts' tour of Shakespeare in the Parking Lot, Lyra in Fair is Foul (Denver Theatre Ensemble/Piknik Theatre), Nan Carter in Exit: Pursued by a Bear (Shifted Lens Theatre Company) Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet (Thin Air Shakespeare), and Ariel in The Pillowman (Commonweal Theatre Company). She has also assistant directed Russian Troll Farm (Strollers Theatre Company) and Good People (Commonweal Theatre Company). She holds an Acting Certificate from the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin, Ireland.
Nathaniel Cushing (TRISTAN FREY) Nathaniel Cushing is a professional actor and Denver native who has worked all across the state of Colorado. His recent regional credits includes Twelfth Night and Shakespeare in Love (Colorado Shakespeare Festival), Henry IV / V (Theatreworks); Heroes of the Fourth Turning (UpstART) and the DCPA’s Shakespeare In The Parking Lot. This is his third outing with BETC, previously seen in Dorothy’s Dictionary and The Sound Inside. At the 2018 Colorado Thespian Conference, he was named Best Actor - Male, and is a graduate of the University of Denver, where he earned degrees in both Acting and Psychology.
Di Dresser* (DR. LORNA JAMES) - Bio coming soon!
Gareth Saxe* (DR. TOBY SEALEY) BETC debut. Most recently, Gareth appeared as John Bendy in the DCPA world premier of Godspeed. Other credits there include The Suffragette's Murder, Much Ado about Nothing, Hotter than Egypt. At the Arvada Center Gareth has enjoyed appearing in The Mousetrap, Noises Off, Dracula, Sylvia and Plaza Suite. A four season veteran of the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Gareth was last seen as LaFew in All’s Well That Ends Well and as Coriolanus. His Broadway credits include The Homecoming, The Lion King, and Heartbreak House. A stand out experience among many beautiful regional productions remains A Moon to Dance By with Jane Alexander.
ARTISTIC TEAM
Tina Anderson (SCENIC DESIGN) Tina’s most recent designs for BETC: The Weir, Witch, Mary Jane, Brooklyn Laundry, The Thin Place, Cry It Out, The White Chip, Hope & Gravity, Little Women, What the Constitution Means To Me, Coal Country (True West Award) and Eden Prairie, 1971 (Henry nomination). Other set designs include Pump Boys and Dinettes, Assassins (Miner’s Alley); True West, What the Constitution Means to Me, POTUS and Hurricane Diane. (Thunder River Theatre Company); What The Constitution Means to Me. (Silco Theatre); The Little Mermaid, Twelfth Night, Sweeney Todd. (Off Square Theatre) Dracula, a Feminist Revenge Fantasy, Really & The Laramie Project. (Arvada Center); POTUS & Cullud Wattah.(Curious Theatre Company) Tina is always grateful for design opportunities.
Adara Baltazar (SOUND DESIGNER) is delighted to be returning to BETC for both sound design. Sound design credits include The White Chip, Every Brilliant Thing, Brooklyn Laundry, Witch (BETC), Barefoot in the Park (Arvada Center). Recent stage management and assistant stage management credits include The Diva Royale, Assassins (MAPAC), Every Brilliant Thing, The Ballot of Paola Aguilar (BETC), and Shakespeare in the Parking Lot (DCPA). She is a graduate of the University of Denver with a distinction in stage management and recently graduated from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology with her Masters in forensic psychology.
Rick Mireles (STAGE MANAGER) is excited to be back with BETC where he has previously stage managed: The White Chip and Guards at the Taj. Rick is originally from south Texas where he earned his BA and MA in theatre from the University of Texas Pan-American and earned his MFA in stage management from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Rick is the Director of Community Engagement for the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. He was also a resident stage manager for the DCPA on numerous productions including: Quixote Nuevo; In the Upper Room; David Burn’s Theatre of the Mind; Goodnight Moon the Musical.
Wessie Simmons (ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER) credits include: Disney’s Frozen, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder (Arvada Center), My Fair Lady, Fiddler on the Roof (Aspen Summer Music Festival and School / Theatre Aspen), Mary Jane, Brooklyn Laundry, Hope and Gravity, Enemy of the People, What the Constitution Means to Me, Love Letters, Holly Alaska World Premiere, Coal Country (Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company), King Lear, Much Ado About Nothing, Book of Will, Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Alchemist (Colorado Shakespeare Festival).
Erin Thibodaux (LIGHTING DESIGN) is a lighting designer, director, and writer whose work has been seen across the country. Recent lighting design credits include: Mary Jane, Every Brilliant Thing, The Thin Place, Cry It Out, The White Chip, Enemy of the People, Coal Country (BETC); Sweeney Todd (The Arts HUB); Waitress, Shakespeare in Love, Matilda, Rent (Quincy Community Theatre); Alice by Heart, Annie, Little Women, SPACE, The Prom, Lost Girl, The Play that Goes Wrong (Ghostlight Theater Camp). She also recently directed the staged reading of Spain as part of BETC's Plays with Fire series. Erin is excited to continue her work with BETC.
Allison Watrous (DIRECTOR) is the Executive Director of Education and Community Engagement at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, which has been her artistic home for nearly 30 years as an educator, actor and director. Acting work includes Kelly Young in Just Like Us, A Christmas Carol, John Brown’s Body and Scapin (Denver Center Theatre Company); Girls Only - The Secret Comedy of Women (Denver Center Cabaret); Astronomical Sunset (Curious Theatre Company); and Savage in Limbo, Crimes of the Heart, American Notes, Talley’s Folly and Gidion’s Knot (Sis Tryst Productions). Directing work includes What the Constitution Means to Me, Annapurna, The Revolutionists, Vanya, Sonia, Masha and Spike (Off Square Theatre Company); Cult Following, Shakespeare in the Parking Lot, Little Red, Elephant and Piggie, Goodnight Moon and Corduroy (Denver Center); Bus Stop (Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities); The Revolutionists, What the Constitution Means to Me, The White Chip (BETC); Brighton Beach Memoirs (Miners Alley Playhouse); Big Love, Trojan Women and Constellations (University of Denver); and Failure: A Love Story, The Laramie Project, Eurydice, Wintertime, Arcadia and The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Denver School of the Arts). Allison holds an MFA from the National Theatre Conservatory.
Sarah Zinn (COSTUME DESIGNER) is the Costume Program Manager at the University of Denver, a draper at Opera Colorado, and has designed many BETC shows, most recently The Thin Place, Enemy of the People, White Chip, and Coal Country. Other recent credits include Romeo and Juliet (Arvada Center), Medea (DU) Richard II and The Tempest (Colorado Shakespeare Festival) and Baskerville (Lone Tree Arts Center). She received her MFA in Costume Design and Technology from Mason Gross School of the Arts. She was awarded the Henry for Outstanding Costume Design for BETC’s 2022 production of The Royale.