A community amateur theatre group will perform a critically acclaimed play illustrating the nature of love.

Malvern Theatre Players (MTP) will perform Lucy Prebble's The Effect, at the Coach House Theatre.

The performances will run from Monday 16 to Saturday, September 21, with an additional matinee performance on the final day.

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The play, previously staged in London and New York, explores the nature of love and how it intertwines with neuroscience and psychology.

The plot follows Irish cajoling Tristan and Connie, a sceptical psychology student.

Both enrol in a clinical trial for cash, but instead stumble into falling in love with each other.

Their sudden affection raises questions about the nature of their connection and whether it is genuine or merely a side effect of the experimental antidepressant they have taken for clinical trial.

Prebble's play grapples with the intersection of love, neuroscience, and ethics.

The story addresses how much of our identity is controlled by our brain and how our actions can affect it.

It also questions the medical ethics behind trusting externally administered chemicals more than our brain's reactions.

The clinical trial within the play is handled by Dr Laura James and Dr Toby Sealey, characters tangled in a past love affair, adding another layer of tension.

The Effect offers insights into the impact of new love, past love, and possibly even artificial love.

Prebble, a prolific British screenwriter, made her mark with plays such as Sugar Syndrome and Enron.

She kicked off her television career with Secret Diary of a Call Girl and later co-created I Hate Suzie with Billie Piper, who starred in The Effect's first iteration.

The play also won the Critics Circle Best New Play award in 2012.

More recently, she wrote and co-executive produced the smash hit series, Succession.

Performances will start rach evening at 7.30pm.

Saturday's matinee will begin at 2.30pm.

Tickets are priced at £16, and can be purchased from the Malvern Theatres box office or online on the theatre's official website (www.malvern-theatres.co.uk).