Michael Weller's 90-minute drama, Side Effects, is a duel between long-time antagonist-lovers, a domestic trauma-drama about a politically ambitious middle-aged man (Cotter Smith) and his medicated, bi-polar wife (Joely Richardson). He's a stiffo; she's beautiful, mercurial, wacko. The actors are totally believable: he in his closed-in state, she in her wide-open one. Fine designer Beowulf Boritt outdoes himself in the upper-crust set with a billowing kind of detail. Lighting by Jeff Croiter is merely superb, and costumes for Ms. Richardson by Wade Laboissonniere are enchanting. There is a traumatic event thrown in by the author to be a catalyst to shake up the shaky and lead to the foregone conclusion and post-conclusion. As such, Side Effects is a series of very theatrical encounters by two very good actors, all clearly directed and staged by David Auburn.
