CONSTELLATIONS

Tue 5 - Sat 9 April 2022 at 7.30pm, Saturday matinee at 1.30pm
Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Sheep Street, Northampton NN1 3NL

Photo gallery

We have all, I am sure, said something that we instantly regretted, or in a tone that we felt could have been better, and this interweaving and fantastical play Constellations, written by Nick Payne, explores the ways one relationship can be affected by just simply saying and doing something in a different way.

Payne’s play is an immense achievement in the clever scene and character creation, and over one-act, leaves an impact rarely achieved in such a short space of time. It is simply a two-hander play charting a relationship over an initial meeting at a barbecue to, well, you will have to see the show to find out where. However, the clever structure actually gives us a glimpse of the end of the play in the second scene, as this play uses parallel universes and bends time throughout.

Masque Theatre, like a lot of productions of this play, has different actors performing this play, and the evening I saw this, Brooke Gillingham and James Lickman were the actors portraying the characters of Marianne and Roland. And to say they were exceptional is perhaps an understatement. Their performances combined were up there with the very best community theatre in Northampton has offered.

Gillingham makes an incredible debut for Masque, totally embodying her character’s quirks and irks. The awkwardness during her elbow joke was comic, and her sadness was portrayed when dealing with an important life event, which was so emotive. It helps that Gillingham has an exceptionally expressive face on stage, just incredible.

Lickman likewise gives an amazing performance, very different in style perhaps, but nonetheless, expressive. He had brilliant timing in many of his reactions, and I absolutely loved his telling of the bee story, even after the fourth or fifth telling of it.

And this is the challenge with this play for the actors, scenes are repeated several times, and the skill of the performers keeps them fresh throughout, and you wonder each time how they will end.

Behind the brilliant actors, of course, is an immensely strong production team. Director Bex Francis Del Valle and assistant director Mairead Kearins have clearly coaxed every bit of talent out of the performers. There is an amazing amount of detail in the show, and the key to this is the obvious excellent direction, which is constantly on show.

Also, having clearly had a huge impact on the visual flair of this show is choreographer Mary O’Brien’s work. There are really some beautiful movement pieces and it is a delight as well that these are revisited at the end. The routines also occasionally bridge the repeating scenes to stunning effect as well.

While scene-shifting, repeating, and time drifts might make you think this is a difficult play to follow, it never is. A lot of this is down to some excellent lighting design from Megan Lucas, helping you to know where you are. Blue flashes represent a scene restart, and bright lighting and more sombre lighting represent respectively the beginnings and the end of the story. There are also some delightful scenes played under a star-filled sky. Overall, it is a beautifully lit show.

Constellations is a magical piece of theatre, with strong and powerful storytelling, and immensely good performances.

In a parallel universe, this second cast version of Masque Theatre’s production of Constellations by Nick Payne did not fall foul of serious rehearsal impediments to Covid.

However, alas, both cast members - Gemma Knight as Marianne, and Anthony Burgess as Roland - fell to Covid at different times and in this universe, the best part of three weeks of rehearsals was lost. However, on the evidence of their performance, it impacts less than you might think on the final product.

There is much that feels different in this version performance-wise. Knight and Burgess bring their own dynamic to the show. They are older than the other performers, so, they bring more experience of life to the show’s feel. Little nuances that you only earn from living life. You often believe the relationship more, and without doubt Knight and Burgess have a more natural approach to the performance.

Among my favourite differences was a very contrasting telling of the bee tale by Burgess, I have to admit, despite having already seen it a lot in the previous version, Burgess presented even more humour from the delivery of this. It was one of my favourite moments the first time, and it became more so in this telling.

Knight brings equally a different, but an excellent portrayal of Marianne to the stage. I particularly liked the increased development of the character's illness, especially with the added physicality she portrayed.

Perhaps either intentionally, or because of the simple loss of time, there were slightly fewer movement pieces in this version, however, they were no less a delightful part of the story. The dance routine was again lovely and poignantly returned to at the very end.

Constellations in both its forms truly showed the strength of community theatre in Northampton and while the stars aligned to make the rehearsal process troublesome, the result was still a great deal better than many amateur, and indeed, professional shows on offer.

One relationship. Infinite possibilities.
If you could see all the ways your love story plays out, would you?

Constellations is story of love in the quantum multiverse with just a drizzle of honey.

In our time of science, the play blends the common with the cosmic to capture the ephemeral everyday moments that make up a relationship.

The story follows Marianne and Roland across the multiverse to see how each decision can change everything.

Constellations stars Gemma Knight, Anthony Burgess, James Lickman and Brooke Gillingham (pictured above).

Masque Theatre's production is directed by Rebecca Francis Del Valle.