Constellations – The Studio, Highbury theatre, Sutton Colfdield

****

“Constellations” is a bold, brave production, proof positive that amateur theatre can take on challenging work- and win.

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Written by Nick Payne , a British playwright , Constellations premiered  in London in October 2009  before transferring to America and Canada. It explores love, friendship and Time . It only   lasts   eighty minutes,  but packs in more than most shows manage in twice  that length. Its originality lies in  its dialogue format, endlessly reprised, subtly altered , constantly repeated and nuanced as part of  a conventional narrative. If this sounds highbrow, it is. If you fear that it will not be accessible to mere mortals, fear not. It is accessible , playing out as an intellectual romcom.  Payne’s debt to Tom Stoppard’s work and style is unmistakable, clever, but not archly so.

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What is it about? Suppose that life exists in a multiverse – a set of parallel existences that contain infinitely different futures. The possibilities in our lives are, endless. Every possible event that could happen, does happen, in one universe or another. And if two lovers meet – are drawn together in every version of existence — every possible happy ending and heartbreak that could befall them will.

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Marianne, a scientist, and Roland, a beekeeper, meet at a party. They hit it off, and go for a drink. Or perhaps they don’t. They go home together, or maybe they go their separate ways. Perhaps Marianne is engaged to someone else, perhaps Roland is. Maybe she breaks his heart, maybe he breaks hers. Perhaps they come together and their love story can finally take root and grow, or perhaps it will be tragically cut short. Constellations, explores how even the smallest change in our lives can dramatically alter the course we take.  It is a theme explored in Peter  Howitt’s 1998  film “Sliding Doors” with Gwyneth Paltrow and John Hannah. It is an exploration of love in the multiverse , science, quantum theory, and infinite possibility for heartbreak and  hope, where time doesn’t exist.

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A young couple, Marianne and Roland , meet and meet again. Every universe gives a different version, a different look, a different feel to our protagonists.  They spend a lifetime milling around each other, but not just in one life. Their lives collide and crash together in an infinite number of lifetimes. Each scene plays again and again, giving a glimpse of the decisions and choices being made in every variation before gently moving on to another point in time.

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Nick Payne writes with depth  interlaced with warmth and humour. Though you only see snapshots of Marianne and Roland’s lives, it offers disarming intensity. The dizzying heights of young love, the lows of break up, the joys of a reunion and the gruelling  finale.  A celestial rollercoaster ride with the only chink being a less than assured foray into end of life suicide.

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Director Ahmed Ali guides his performers with elegance. Presented as a two hander they collectively  succeed in making  a  complex script  coherent and manageable. The  staging is simple, the only indulgence a glitter ball.

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 Isobel Clinton as Marianne, and Henry Revell as Roland, are omnipresent on stage wrestling with successive almost identical lines in a triumph of concentration and application. New thoughts and  emotions are signalled by a  flick of the lights, mood is established by ambient  incidental music, both courtesy of Andy Wilkes.

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This is  a stellar production in the most modest of surroundings – a dazzling look at the endless possibilities of love and life,  a vindication of Director Ali’s vision which plays for eighty minutes without interval. “Constellations” can be viewed until 21^st February, no telescope required.