Phoebe Bakker
In an introspective dystopian world, Side Effects May Include looks at medical misogyny in its final form. Inspired by the 2024 UK Women and Equalities Committee report into women’s reproductive health conditions, and personal experiences seeking medical diagnoses, the pair have been able to extract information to reinvent a world that leaves the audience squirming throughout.
The worldbuilding is the star of the show. As we follow two women in what appears to be a treatment facility, we are given access to this offbeat world. One that must always remain ‘sunny’ as expressly said throughout. This comes in the form of sunny pills that leave the patients feeling ‘better’; however, it can leave some unfortunate side effects and actually doesn’t necessarily always treat the issue. Remaining ‘Sunny’ is the goal, never diverting from that path unless you want to attract unwanted attention. The pair play with this push and pull throughout, sharp transitions that remind us of the endlessness of the days. The loudness of the ignorance and the chaos with our own thoughts interjects each scene. Juxtaposed next to scenes of almost lobotomy-esc ‘Sunny’ women enjoying their sunny day, completing sunny Yoga. There’s so much to play with in this world, and they’ve set it up beautifully for us to remain confused and uncomfortable throughout.
As scenes progress, we get something a bit more real that breaks out from the characters. Some data. Maybe some thoughts about how they actually feel. The actors play off each other wonderfully, really leaning into this genre of bizarity, and are so enjoyable to watch and equally are able to ground it when necessary. A couple of times, this faltered and felt a little clunky. Attempts to bring this into the audience, asking the front row of ‘doctors’ questions about their personal health and giving the answers in the form of a magic eight ball ate up time and didn’t create the effect they were going for, as I don’t think we learnt anything new. I wish we could have had longer to explore this, as it needed some sharpening. The sentiment is lovely but not quite hitting the mark.
Sometimes I felt unclear about where the story was going. We get a small monologue towards the end of the effect of medical misogyny that seemed to bound up all of the central themes of the play but after spending so much time in this realm of surrealism, this felt like a very heavy blow back down to earth that wasn’t in keeping with the tone of what had been created. A lot of time had gone into the very precise nature of the play to evoke a feeling or effect.
Minimal props and set were used, but when they were, it was done so with intention and with a lot of character. Even parts which maybe weren’t necessarily the cleanest of transitions such as just chucking the props to the place they would need to be for the next scene, worked because they had been so successful in creating a compelling character/ world that allowed them to do so that it felt a shame to not see that same level of nuance in the climax of the show.
Visually compelling with performances that captivate the audience in an iron-tight grip. Side Effects May Include promises more and more the more you think about it.
Performances of Side Effects May Include have now concluded at Voila! Theatre Festival 2025.
Jake Mace
Lamesha Ruddock
Jasmine Silk
