Venue: Wharf 1 Sydney Theatre Company (Walsh Bay NSW), Jul 29 – Sep 2, 2023
Playwright: Nick Payne
Director: Ian Michael
Cast: Johnny Carr, Catherine Văn-Davies
Images by Prudence Upton
Theatre review
The one certainty in Nick Payne’s Constellations, is that Marianne and Roland met one fateful day. Whatever happened thereafter, becomes a series of infinite and random configurations, in a play that explores the nature of consequence, and the idea of boundless possibilities. Things could have ended between the two after a single exchange, or a lifetime of connectedness could have eventuated, or indeed a myriad of combinations in between. Maybe all that can be imagined, does in fact take place simultaneously, in a world that is much bigger, much less ordered and linear, than we usually believe to be true.
Unequivocally intellectual, Payne’s writing is also witty and heartrending, offering the stage opportunities for a theatre that engages both mind and soul. Directed by Ian Michael, all of Constellations‘ immense potentialities are realised, in a production that absolutely captivates, to deliver an experience satisfying on every level, and leaving its audience deeply contented yet full of wonderment, newly curious about our planes of existence. Furthermore, as a work of classic drama, Constellations is intensely moving in its rendering of a love story, but also consistently and effortlessly funny, in many comedic moments that Michael instils exactingly, yet with an unmistakable lightness of touch.
Designed to perfection, the show features a glorious set by Isabel Hudson that is sure to take one’s breath away, from the very first encounter upon entering the auditorium. Dark gleaming surfaces depict characters in timelessness, floating as though representing both the material and immaterial, in a play that ventures inevitably into esoteric spaces. Benjamin Brockman’s spectacular lights coax responses from our emotions and senses, in the most detailed ways, ensuring that heads and hearts follow each step of the complex plot, never for a moment disengaging from the presentation. Music and sounds by James Brown bring sublime beauty to the show, along with depths of profundity that the body understands more than the cerebrum, allowing enjoyment and appreciation of the show to extend viscerally.
The seamless collaboration between all aspects of the staging, is incredible to witness, including the two extraordinary performers, whose unsurpassed generosity and integrity, make Constellations unforgettable. As Roland, actor Johnny Carr brings interpretations and impulses that feel entirely natural, to a text notable for its abstractions. Every vacillating scenario is made believable and rational, with an unabating charisma that keeps us endeared to each mutation of the story. The mesmerising Catherine Văn-Davies is interminably dynamic in the role of Marianne, brilliantly inventive with each refreshed delivery of dialogue, physically manifesting the infinitude that is so resolutely central to the text. The sentimental dimensions of the play are crucial to sustaining our engrossment, and Văn-Davies’s commitment to portrayals of human vulnerability keeps us riveted to the unusual storytelling. Above all, it is the extraordinary chemistry between both players that makes this theatrical moment a special one, with a partnering that invites us to perceive love as an entity beyond conventional prescription. We are as magnificent as we allow ourselves to envision.
The gravity we bear in navigating life is partially tangible, and partially in the mind’s eye; there are portions more real and portions mutable. Finding ways to dissolve the boundaries that constitute meanings of selves, or in other words, to free oneself from definitions that necessarily impose constrictions, is to release the self to an expansiveness that must mean exaltation and peace. Constellations could be seen as a meditation on zen doctrines, or at least be a key to one instance of bliss.
Suzy Goes See 