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London Review
London ReviewConstellations
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Constellations transfers happily to the West End for a short run
by Rachel Ayer
This high-concept style undeniably takes a fair amount of getting used to. It's a flashy sort of idea that could so easily descend into some kind of showcase for the actors to show off their ability to manipulate text and physicality, however it's both Brearley and Armstrong that really sell it for me. The changes from scene to scene and timeline to timeline are done with very little fuss or ceremony. Both performers work in just enough detail to clarify the definitions whilst keeping their characters identifiable throughout. Brearley in particular brings a muscular awkwardness to Marianne that renders her immediately likeable. Michael Longhurst's direction is clever but clean, the real complexity is left for the script, and Tom Scutt's design mirrors this approach with a black, polished floor simply topped with bundles of fragile white balloons. Science fiction or science fact, this exploration of the great beyond manages to bring the furthest reaches of human knowledge crashing into the everyday, making far-flung notions and further flung places feel familiar, immediate and even pressingly relevant. Production Notes as at the Duke of York's except as below Cast: Joe Armstrong and Louise Brearley Constellations Running time: One hour 45 minutes without an interval Box Office: 0844 871 7632 Booking to 1st August 2015 at the Barbican Theatre Reviewed by Rachel Ayer based on 14th July 2015 performance at Trafalgar Studios Whitehall London SWIA 4DY (Rail/Tube: Charing Cross/Embankment) |
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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.
| 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) |
