Constellations

On Broadway at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre


It was a starry night and a night for the stars. 

Have you ever tried to touch the tip of your elbow with your tongue?  Sure you have.  Haven’t we all?  Well the thing is, it’s just not possible.   There is a reason for this, but I’m afraid you will need to get down to the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre to find out because I don’t want to be the one to ruin the surprise.    This was just one of the quirky little anecdotes of a production that was filled with what I would call observations.

I found this play was extraordinary in it’s simplicity.  From the two character cast to the set that was naked of everything but balloons.  White balloons of all different sizes.    I know that some are going to make this out to be complex and confusing, but it was all quite simple to me.   It’s just physics, and the existence or the non-existence of time, a past or present. 

I think we have all wanted to recreate a moment of time in our lives.  What if we could?  In Constellations we follow the relationship of  beekeeper Roland (Jake Gyllenhaal) and quantum physicist Marianne (Ruth Wilson) from their first meeting, to love, to infidelity, to  sickness, to death, but there is one thing very different here.  For each moment you experience, they recreate the moment numerous times with different results.  What if you could change the ending, or the beginning, or the content of a moment? This is theatre as you have never seen before.

The scenes are masterfully transitioned with illuminating balloons, and bursts of celestial sounds. The very impressive performances by Gyllenhaal and Wilson along with dynamic lighting (Lee Curran) and sound (David McSeveney) turn this into 70 minutes of intrigue.  I strongly suggest you go, and don’t look into it so much.  It’s all right there floating on the surface. 
​–ThisbroadSway 1/10/2015