Constellations

Seen at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2026

⭐⭐ A minimal constellation

A man and a woman meet at a barbecue. Roland is a beekeeper; Marianne is a quantum physicist. Their meeting is the event that opens a range of possibilities, in multiverse theory. In one universe, they go home together, in the other they don’t. In a universe they get married, in another they will barely remember each other.

Constellations, the well acclaimed text by Nick Payne is of great beauty and poetry, but it is not an easy text to stage. Transactions between ‘universes’ are one of the crucial elements for the enjoyment (but also for the comprehension) of the play. In this production, there are no devices in place beyond stage directions, and this doesn’t always provide the required support for the plot to run smoothly. The responsibility is solely on the actors, which can be a bold choice. The scenography is clearly inspired by the version of Constellations directed by Michael Longhurst (produced by Donmar Warehouse, London) but is very far from producing the same effect.

Theatre33 is a multilingual community company from Bellevue, Washington. I really appreciated the fact that the actors aren’t native speakers, and they have to work harder under a lot of points of view. The interpretation of Marianne is notable, shifting between moods and scenarios and creating a very believable character. Unfortunately, the multiverse system adds another difficulty to this play: maintaining a coherence within each character, without letting the differences in the plot influence them to the point of becoming other characters, even in the infinite possibilities of their stories and development. For Roland, this wasn’t always the case. Overall, the use of more scenic devices (as simple as exiting and entering the stage) would have largely helped the actors.

5^th -30^th August; 4.10 pm

Running time: 55 minutes

Venue: TheSpace on the Mile

Tickets and Info: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/constellations

Website: https://constellations.show/

Company website: https://www.theatre33wa.org/about-us

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