"Constellations"

July 11, 2017 — This is a difficult review to write. I've spent much time thinking about this play since seeing it two days ago, and I'm not sure I fully understand what it's trying to say. I can't even decide whether I liked it or not. Presented by the Peterborough Players in Peterborough, New Hampshire, the play is performed by two actors on a stage set consisting of lights that suggest a starry sky and streaks that could be...the Milky Way? The only furnishing is a plain, large platform about eight inches high that the actors stand on, lie on, dance on, step on and off of.

The Players' artistic director, Gus Kaikkonen, directed and designed the set for "Constellations" by Nick Payne. Marianne (Bridget Beirne) is a theoretical physicist and Roland (Sean Patrick Hopkins) is a beekeeper. Barely over an hour long with no intermission, the play consists of a series of conversations that often repeat themselves, as the characters move through first meeting, dating, engagement and a life-threatening illness. Sometimes events from an earlier time are repeated. Scientist Marianne explains multiple universes and the concept of time to Roland. Are these the underlying themes? Are the brief conversations, rolling forward and backward in time, different universes? Einstein theorized time encompasses all of past, present and future at once, and the sense it's moving forward is an illusion. Are we supposed to believe the characters are moving about freely in this sea of time? Am I completely missing the point?

The two actors were excellent and engaging to watch. The audience seemed enthralled, except the couple directly in front of me. About half-way through the play, they looked at one another, nodded and without a word got up and left. Of course, I have no way of knowing the reason for their departure, but I suspect they just found the play unfathomable. Personally, I never had a notion to leave. I had to see where this was headed. Where it ended was just as puzzling as where it began. But I'm glad I stayed. This was the most thought-provoking play I've seen in some time. I'm still thinking about it.