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A CurtainUp 
London Review
London ReviewConstellations
Constellation In the West EndNick Payne’s intriguing play Constellations about alternative universes blazes into the West End from the Jerwood Space Upstairs at the Royal Court. With the same cast and the same production it moves from a studio space to a large proscenium arch theatre. The design, instead of surrounding us with the white orbs of the universe is a super visual on stage where the white balloons rise to allow the actors to enter. I found myself watching which “world” lit up on each conversation and unsuccessfully trying to decide whether this was a new universe or returning to a previous one. The electric lightning flashes between sequences are dramatic and exciting and easier to appreciate from a distance.
The disadvantage of the transfer for me was the distancing of the actors from the audience and because of this a loss of comparative narratives. I’d recommend getting a seat towards the front of this theatre to enhance the audience experience. From a distance, and perhaps on second viewing, it felt more like an exercise for actors to devise differing outcomes in essentially similar situations. Rafe Spall gets a chance to show the range of his acting within these confines and I look forward to seeing him again. Currrent Production Notes Constellations Credits as per original production below plus Composer: Simon Slater Movement: Lucy Cullingford BSLBT Consultant: Daryl Jackson Fight Director: Kate Waters Box Office: 0844 871 7615 Booking to 5th January 2013 Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge based on 19th November 2012 at the Duke of York’s, St Martin's Lane, London WC2N 4BG (Tube: Charing Cross/Leicester Square) |
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But if every possible future exists, then the decisions we do and don’t make will determine which of these futures we actually end up experiencing.
— Marianne
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Sally Hawkins as Marianne and Rafe Spall as Roland (Photo: Simon Annand) |
We first meet Marianne played by Golden Globe award winning actress, Sally Hawkins, at a barbecue and in instant rewinds and replays, Roland changes character and is variously with his girlfriend, his wife, his wife, his girlfriend and the relationship possibilities stop there, until at last, he is unattached and there on his own. Marianne’s chat up line is about one’s inability to lick one’s own elbow and whether if we could do so this would reveal the secret of immortality.
So Constellations follows the permutations of Roland and Marianne in their fledgling relationship stopping every couple of pages to take that scene again with differing outcomes and reactions like a devised performance with infinite variables. Marianne has headaches and starts to lose the words as, in obvious pain, her conversation deconstructs. She talks science while he talks about sex with her. She mentions that several outcomes can co-exist simultaneously. A blip in their relationship brings confessions of infidelity with someone else, or not. After meeting up again at a ballroom dancing class, a proposal of marriage with its prelude about the role of the three kinds of bees is delivered six (well it felt like six, but was actually three) different ways.
The set is full of white helium balloons in different shapes, each with a dangling white ribbon, a pretty visual reminder of the potential planetary universe. Rafe Spall is mesmerising in all of Roland’s incarnations, gentle, more aggressive, polite, detached, leaving the audience with a spectrum of his character. Sally Hawkins shows depth and intelligence as Marianne and what is so interesting is that we believe in this composite character of differing outcomes.
Michael Longhurst handles these scene changes in universe with lights out and music without confusion or consternation.
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| Constellations
Written by Nick Payne Directed by Michael Longhurst Starring: Sally Hawkins and Rafe Spall Designed by Tom Scutt Lighting: Len Curran Sound: David McSeveney Running time: 65 minutes without an interval Box Office: 020 7565 5000 Booking to 11th February 2012 Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge based on 19th January 2012 performance at the Royal Court, Sloane Square, London SW1W 8AS (Tube: Sloane Square) |
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