Review: CONSTELLATIONS, The Drayton Arms Theatre

Burnt Orange Theatre Company

Constellations deals with the first meeting and then ongoing relationship between a beekeeper called Roland and a physicist called Marianne. They first encounter each other at a barbecue, see each other again at a ballroom dancing class, and then face life events together. Nick Payne’s script, however, repeats key events in this relationship in slightly different ways, showing how differently events could develop, depending on how a question is answered or whether someone responds as expected. In this way, scenes are repeated but then lead to different endings, a complex structure which might sound repetitive but is in fact gripping. Once an audience realises that a familiar dialogue will skew into a different direction, they listen all the more carefully.

The play is usually performed by a cast of two, or in the case of the most recent West End revival, rotating casts of different pairings. The production is by Burnt Orange Theatre Rep Company, an impressive group of young actors in training. More accessible routes into the profession are badly needed, and this is the type of enterprise that needs to be adopted more widely. Fourteen members of this talented group appear in Constellations, all playing Roland or Marianne, and with an entirely appropriate disregard for gender as written.

The performances that ensue are heartfelt, truthful and engrossing. The capacity audience were gripped from the opening, and the following 75 mins showed quite convincingly that this play can be performed not by two actors but by 14, in this case. It is impossible to single out individuals in such a large cast as all impressed, with the same actors proving their versatility within different pairings.

Director Rosie Thomas keeps the action fluid, although this was less so in the closing stages, where the action focussed down on a few of the pairings. It was slightly disappointing not to see more of some of the actors in this section, but Thomas succeeds in marshalling her group on the small space at the Drayton Arms, much assisted no doubt by Sam Smith and Movement Director Amy Rushent. The lighting too, despite the limitations of the usual pub theatre low season, was crisp and useful, marking out individuals and groups, and enhancing changes of mood. No lighting designer is credited so this is presumably down to Technical Manager Mason Dilworth.

Constellations is a play that is worth seeing more than once, and Burnt Orange have shown new dimensions in this complex piece of writing. Go to see what they have achieved, and to enjoy some remarkably mature performances in a confident and thoughtful production of this enduring text by an inspiring young company.

**** Four Stars

Reviewed by Chris Abbott

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