Double-bill part one: #6. Constellations

Constellations by Nick Payne

Premiere:  Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, London (13 January 2012)

Published by Faber and Faber 

A double bill of two tremendous Royal Court plays today to make up for lost time. First off is Nick Payne's stunning Constellations, one of the Royal Court's big successes of the past few years. It was originally produced in the intimate Upstairs space, and then quickly transferred to the Duke of York's in the West End, followed by a Broadway run, a U.K. Tour, and tomorrow finishes its second West End run at the Trafalgar Studios.

Nick Payne's concise two-hander tells the infinite stories of Marianne and Roland's relationship through quantum multiverse theory. Payne fits more into this short play than many writers can fit into epics, dealing with notions of free will, friendship, love and bee sex, all with incredible intellect but more importantly, with heart. The centre of it all is a very real boy-meets-girl romance, which grounds the complex scientific concepts in relatable human experience. 

At one point Marianne, explains multiverse theory; “every choice, every decision you’ve ever and never made exists in an unimaginably vast ensemble of parallel universes”. Payne, in a stroke of brilliance, puts this theory into action.

Through the heart of the often hilariously juxtaposed repetitions is the electric pulse of real human pain, and this is what makes this play so exhilarating.

In this one relationship, you see infinite possibilities play out. Take their meeting, for instance. They meet at a barbecue. The first time you see the scene play out, Roland shuts Marianne down, saying he is in a relationship. Then you see the same scene again, but Roland has just come out of a relationship. Then he's married. Then, finally they are able to get passed the start of the conversation as neither of them has reason to object. This patten plays out across the play as the focus falls on key events; what they do after their first date, one of them cheats on the other, they meet again and may or may not get back together, and so on. The story itself is touching without being sentimental. Payne uses this framework to discuss free will and scientific theories, but does so as if he is exploring the options, playing with it to figure it out, rather than having preconceived answers that he is serving to the audience. 

Through the heart of the often hilariously juxtaposed repetitions is the electric pulse of real human pain, and this is what makes this play so exhilarating.

While we see the chronological trajectory of the relationship, we occasionally jump into the future, working backwards as the final days of the relationship are revealed. Marianne is terminally ill, and Payne explores all the depths of this unflinchingly. Payne's final kicker is that time itself, in quantum multiverse theory, is not how we conceive it; it is not a straight line. He delivers this in one final hopeful scene. 

The writing is a gift to creatives; it is meticulously written and structured but leaves incredible freedom to the actors and director to play with it to find their own understanding of the characters. This seems perfect; there are as many different versions of this play in performance as there are possibilities in the multiverse. That is exciting, confident writing. 

Payne's play is sensitive and clever, and certainly cememnts Payne's reputation as one of our very best contemporary playwrights. I would urge you, if you can, to get to see one of the last performances of Michael Longhurst's stunning production at the Trafalgar Studios. If you can't, grab a copy of the script and discover your own multiverse. 

Rafe Spall and Sally Hawkins in the original West End production

Runs at the Trafalgar Studios until Saturday 1 August 2015. Tickets available here.

Buy on Amazon here.