Theatre Review - CONSTELLATIONS - PEOPLE'S THEATRE, NEWCASTLE

 

Marianne (Ellie Pullen) Robyn (Cat White)
photo Paul Hood

What can a subtle change do a situation, the choices we make, or our own perception of that situation? How do these differences alter our lives?  Written by Nick Payne, Constellations is a wonderfully different approach to an old-fashioned love story. Instead of meeting a couple at the beginning and following them to the end, we navigate the universe of possibilities and dance between different pivotal points in their relationship. Linear time is for wimps anyway…

Mariann(Ellie Pullen) Robyn (Cat White)
photo Paul Hood

Director Jess Chapman, has clearly put a lot of thought in how to show the rich variety of options that await us throughout the play. Using sound, light and the positioning of the characters to indicate changes in time or to present alternate versions. She achieved the difficult task of bringing out a coherent story, and intriguing the audience, from a slightly abstract timeline. Technical Designer Tim Swinton and Technical Assistant Sam Sanford created a complexity of interwoven sound and lighting techniques which beautifully framed moments, or aided in indicating changes. Having the set in-the-round (built by Carol English), lent itself to the idea you can truly see this couple from all angles.

Robyn (Cat White) Marianne (Ellie Pullen)
photo Paul Hood

I have a great deal of admiration for the two actresses, Ellie Pullen as Marianne and Cat White as Robyn. A two-handed play is normally tough enough, but neither left the stage, even for a moment. Add to that the further complication of having a lot of very similar and often identical lines that hop from place to place in the timeline and I think you are talking about very difficult roles, pulled off flawlessly by both. Throughout, the actors skilfully demonstrated how, even with the exact same words, a scene can be completely different with a simple shift in tone of voice.

Marianne (Ellie Pullen) Robyn (Cat White)
photo Paul Hood

The show runs approximately eighty minutes, with no interval, so be sure to nip to the loo before being carried off into the beautifully told story. Constellations is showing at the People’s Theatre until 18^th May. A master-stroke of thoughtful theatre!