‘Constellations’: Fates Rewritten in the Stars

CELESTIAL BODIES: Jake Gyllenhaal & Ruth Wilson in ‘Constellations.’ Photo: Joan Marcus

CONSTELLATIONS
Written by Nick Payne
Directed by Michael Longhurst
Through March 15, 2015
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
261 West 47th Street
(212-239-6200), www.constellationsbroadway.com

By David NouNou

Set in the Multiverse, in the past, present and future, Constellations is one of those plays you are either going to get into right away or be drifting throughout its 70-minute length. Dealing with parallel universes, I’m sure I was drifting there in some of those universes. Not having taken any physics courses may have hindered my perceptions. Having the same elements as Groundhog Day, the repetition of the same events of the same day recurring over and over again until you get it right, Constellations isn’t about getting it right but repeating the same events at different times in different universes with different results in each instance.

Starting with Roland (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Marianne (Ruth Wilson) meeting at a barbeque, this same meeting plays out in five different ways. He is a beekeeper and she is a student in theoretical universe cosmology. In each instance, there is the initial meeting, and pending in which universe each has a follow-up scene but not in the order of the initial meetings. The trick here is matching up the scenes with the characters. Naturally, each scene has a different outcome.

What sustains the interest here is the perfect chemistry that Mr. Gyllenhaal and Ms. Wilson possess. He is laid back and she is hyper, but they do build an odd couple sadness. They both convey their character changes perfectly, whether by an inflection, facial expression or body movement and they are in perfect sync with each other’s movements. There are no fully realized scenes but the longer ones are compelling and engaging. The longer scenes seem to bring you back to reality until the next tangent breaks up the proceedings, and then you’re hurled out into the other universe.

Nick Payne, the playwright, and director Michael Longhurst have worked with Mr. Gyllenhaal before In Mr. Payne’s If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet at Roundabout’s Laura Pels Theatre in 2012, so they do know each other’s patterns and techniques. Mr. Longhurst keeps things moving at a rapid pace in part due to Nick Curran’s light changes indicating different moments.

Constellations has a clever premise, the ever-charismatic, talented, always competent and gorgeous Jake Gyllenhaal, and making her New York stage debut, a charming Ruth Wilson. This past Sunday, she won the Golden Globe award for Best Actress in a Drama against very stiff competition in Showtime’s “The Affair.” Most New Yorkers are unfamiliar with her work, but she is a very interesting actress to watch.

There is a lot to admire in Constellations, especially if you get into it in the right universe, at the right time, and in the right frame of mind.

OSCAR NOMINEE ON BROADWAY: Jake Gyllenhaal in ‘Constellations.’ Photo: Joan Marcus

STARRY MESSENGERS: Jake Gyllenhaal dates physicist Ruth Wilson in the U.K. import ‘Constellations.’ Photo: Joan Marcus

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published January 15, 2015
Reviewed at press performance on January 14, 2015