BY KAREN BOSSICK

It weighs just three pounds. But the brain is the focal point of “The Effect” now playing at The Spot in Ketchum.

Anik Zarkos and Kagan Albright star in Lucy Prebble’s drama that explores people’s  increasing use of pharmaceutical pills to regulate mental health just as they take vitamins and other supplements to address physical health.

Vital signs run across the screen as the two take part in a clinical trial testing an antidepressant. And inner emotions run amok inside the young people’s bodies as they fall in love with one another.

Anik Zarkos and Kagan Albright play the two test subjects. PHOTO: Karen Bossick

Meanwhile, the two doctors supervising the trial, played by David Janeski and Yanna Lantz, are left to quibble over ethical aspects of the trial as it reaches a climax.

The play, directed by Brett Moellenberg, offers a good chance to show off the talents of two young people who grew up taking part in The Spot Young Company productions, a tuition-free acting, movement and voice program for teenagers.

And, of course, it offers a chance to see two valley favorites—David Janeski and Yanna Lantz—on stage, although you may be surprised how different Lantz comes across in this play versus previous ones.

You can catch “The Effect” at 7:30 p.m. tonight and Friday, April 17-18, at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 19 and at 4 p.m. Sunday April 20. Tickets are available at https://www.spotsunvalley.com/.

Yanna Lantz plays a medical researcher with plenty of questions. PHOTO: Karen Bossick