"The Effect" – the experiment that turns into a love story, will premiere in Burgas on December 16 at the Cultural Center NHK. The world-renowned play by Lucy Prebble will be staged by director Yana Titova, and the roles are played by Valentina Karoleva, Irmena Chichikova, Ivan Barnev, and Stefan Dodurov.

Awarded as the best British play of 2012 by the Critics' Circle Theatre Awards, the production tells the story of two volunteers in a clinical trial of a new antidepressant who fall in love and are left in doubt whether it is a real feeling or just a chemical reaction. A story that raises questions about the boundaries between science and humanity, the cost of discoveries, and the eternal mystery of love.

"The Effect" is a spectacle about love, human relationships, and the search for authenticity in a world marked by division and digitalization. The creative team accepts the challenge of conveying the powerful idea and delicate emotionality of the play in a Bulgarian context through language, attitude, and stage atmosphere.

The plot is inspired by real ethical questions related to drug trials and failed clinical tests – for example, cases in which the expected effect went wrong, or when the boundary between a side effect and a desired effect is blurred.

The production in Bulgaria is with a translation by Lyubov Kostova, the set designer is Ognyana Serafimova, and the composer is Kalin Nikolov. The producer is Gemini Films, with the support of Artvent as a co-producer and distributor.

The play's debut was in the UK in 2012 and featured Billie Piper and Jonjo O'Neill. For her role in it, Piper was nominated for an Olivier Award for "Best Actress." The Guardian notes that the production is an "intense and intoxicating encounter" that sharply underlines the questions of which parts of the brain and body we can control.

The project is carried out with the support of the National Culture Fund under the "Creation 2024" program.