It is the singular love story with infinite variations, suggested by its eye-catching stage direction: “an indented rule indicates a change in universe.” Nick Payne’s play Constellations, in which the possibilities of a couple’s relationship are explored alongside quantum multiverse theory, will return to the West End four years after its first transfer there.
The Royal Court production, starring Louise Brealey (Sherlock) and Joe Armstrong (Happy Valley), is currently on a UK tour. After dates at Richmond theatre and the Theatre Royal in Brighton, it will run at Trafalgar Studios in London from 9 July until 1 August.
Constellations first opened at the Royal Court’s Theatre Upstairs, in London, in January 2012, with Rafe Spall and Sally Hawkins winning acclaim for their performances. Both stars reprised their roles at the Duke of York’s theatre a few months later. Constellations was nominated for four Olivier awards and won the Evening Standard’s best play award. Earlier this year it was staged in New York, with Ruth Wilson and Jake Gyllenhaal (making his Broadway debut); Alexis Soloski gave it five stars.
Constellations is directed by Michael Longhurst and features a memorable cluster of glowing white balloons evoking, in the words of its designer Tom Scutt, “synapses in the brain and atoms and sperm and weddings and parties”.
