REVIEW: "Constellations" Offers a Multifaceted Look at the World

In 2004, Lost premiered on ABC to millions of viewers who were unaware that they were embarking on a complex journey through twists, timelines, and things not said. It was a show that forced the audience to think instead of relax, promising that if you made the effort to follow the winding road they paved, Lost would absolutely blow your mind. Such is the tale weaved by The Old Globe’s newest production, Constellations: it’s complex, slightly confusing, and absolutely worth seeing. 

Constellations isn't a production where you can kick up your heels and eat bon-bons. If you stop paying attention for one moment, you'll lose track of the story—and that’s what makes it so brilliant. Constellations tells the tale of Marianne (Victoria Frings), a young physicist living in London, as she meets (and remeets, and remeets once more) Roland (Christian Coulson), a beekeeper. The production follows the pair as they fall in and out of love (or marry other people, or live together happily forever) over the course of multiple timelines. The play is nonlinear—in fact, attempting to find any coherent linear story will almost certainly drive you insane—and Constellations plays with both time and universe. 

Written by Nick Payne, Constellations subscribes to the multiverse theory: that every decision we make branches off to create an infinite number of timelines. And through watching Constellations unfold on the Sheryl and Harvey White theatre-in-the-round stage at The Old Globe, the audience is treated to but a few of those infinite possibilities. Directed by Richard Seer, Constellations takes the audience on a furious ride of emotions, backflipping from giddy to heartbroken in seconds as the timelines and universes twist and turn. Frings’s performance in particular showcases a wide range of emotion—from panic to pain to love in the blink of an eye—as her character faces (sometimes) insurmountable obstacles.

This Old Globe production is short—clocking in at an hour and fifteen minutes—and it’s a simple two-man performance. Yet somehow Frings and Coulson create an engrossing dance as their two characters face the same series of events over and over again. From Frings’s relatable portrayal of an awkward physicist too smart and ballsy for her own good, to Coulson’s charming and naive Roland, both actors create layered characters filled with emotion and life in such a short amount of time. No matter which incarnation of the universe they find themselves in, Marianne and Roland both stay the same at their core, which definitely derives from the deft handling of Frings and Coulson. Perhaps in a more telling aspect in Constellations however, no matter what decisions Roland and Marianne make, they ultimately end up in the same place.

The production makes wonderful use of lighting, as designed by Bradley King. The stage and floor lighting separates different timelines for the audience, adding an almost ethereal glow to the action. Adding to the cosmic effects are the whooshing sounds of time jumping and the universe changing, as designed by Fitz Patton. The gorgeous set, which features a hexagonal pattern reminiscent of a bee’s honeycomb, was designed by David Israel Reynoso. 

Constellations is scheduled to run at The Old Globe through May 8th. Tickets are available via The Old Globe’s website. Make sure you’re living in the timeline that checks Constellations out!