A beekeeper and a quantum physicist walk into a bar…becue. In one universe, they fall in love. In another, one of them is married. In another, one has just come out of a serious relationship. In another, they never make it past exchanging pleasantries. In another, they never make it past the first date. Everything that can happen, does happen – and it is happening to them right at this very moment.
This is the premise of Nick Payne’s stunning play Constellations. The multiverse is not exactly new to us, with the magnificent Everything Everywhere All At Once having nearly every eldest child on Earth in tears by the end of its whacky and heartfelt depiction of familial responsibilities across worlds. Payne’s multiverse is much smaller, focussing on one couple in mostly Earth-like universes, and still manages to be just as emotionally complex.
Thoroughly, heart-rendingly beautiful, in every way possible.
After a version of Constellations took home the 2022 Olivier Award for Best Play Revival on the West End, Ian Michael (assistant director on Kip Williams’ The Picture of Dorian Gray) brings another to Sydney in his Sydney Theatre Company directorial debut.
And what a debut it is – Payne’s play is full of challenges that this talented team of theatremakers delights in meeting. Designer Isabel Hudson (Hubris & Humiliation, Ghosting the Party, Blessed Union) places the world between two parallel circular platforms: one below, tiled with shining black, and one above, overflowing with dried flowers and lit from the centre with a circular screen.
Lighting designer Benjamin Brockman (Overflow, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Symphonie Fantastique) also makes his STC debut, transitioning between universes by switching from warm yellow tones to cool blues, or lighting the two actors from different angles. To signal other changes in time, the edges of the circular platforms are lit up like shooting stars and accompanied by throbbing sound design by James Brown (Do Not Go Gentle, Let the Right One In, Oedipus Schmoedipus). Brown’s twinkling sound and delicate piano refrains later serve to enrich the beekeeper and the physicist’s already musical dialogue. Like the play’s story, the world the design team creates is at once grand and minuscule, endless and contained.
Johnny Carr (Wellmania, Five Bedrooms) and Catherine Văn-Davies (Playing Beatie Bow, The Twelve, Hungry Ghosts) as Roland the beekeeper and Marianne the physicist are similarly understated in their brilliance. Scenes in different universes repeat the same lines, up to four or five times, with subtle differences. With Michael’s guidance, Carr and Văn-Davies use this repetition to comedic, and devastating, effect – drawing us into what seems like a rom-com over and over again.
Michael directs with an acute sense of the opportunities Payne’s dialogue presents: plunging the actors into total darkness and then switching their places in the same conversation, then letting us peek into the half darkness as Marianne sinks to the floor in despair in a different scene. A particularly tender moment between Roland and Marianne has them cuddled up on the ground, with Marianne’s outstretched leg revealing a teal sock the same colour as Roland’s jumper, and Roland’s bent knee revealing a mustard sock the same colour as Marianne’s shirt.
The detailed approach from every member of this team means that almost no opportunity is wasted. Payne’s excellent ability to reveal small morsels of information through dialogue is heightened by the intricacies in the actor’s voices, the shadows thrown onto dried flowers, the subtly matching costumes, and the repeated musical motifs. All this detail is approachable, too, with Marianne explaining quantum mechanics in a way that Roland (and us) can understand without feeling condescended to. There are moments that feel a little out of place, because every other moment is so clear in its’ purpose – such as the choice to have one scene performed in sign language, and the almost unnecessary glimpse of a universe containing a violent Roland.
Constellations brings together the seemingly disparate stars of beekeeping, quantum mechanics, family barbecues, ballroom dancing, and the inability to lick one’s elbow, as well as some exciting Australian theatremakers. A laser-sharp focus on the two central characters allows for a gentle exploration of the choices we make, and how much time we have left with those we love. Thoroughly, heart-rendingly beautiful, in every way possible.
Constellations plays at Wharf 1 Theatre, Walsh Bay, until September 2, 2023. Tickets range from $54-$104 and you can get yours over here.