Berkshire Theatre Group, Stockbridge, MA
through August 27, 2016
by Shera Cohen
“Constellations” is a challenging play to mount and to
understand – all the more reason to experience this intriguing little story
about life and love, time and space.
Like so many new plays presented at numerous venues in the
Berkshires this summer, “Constellations” is one-act, approximately 70 minutes.
Yet, the size of this drama (with several bits of humor), in a sense, covers
the entire universe. Stars shine on the ceiling of the intimate Unicorn Theatre
at the play’s start and at the end. Just as the stars are infinite, humans are
finite. Two people confront their own place on this planet, separately and
together.
 |
| Photo by Emma K. Rothenberg-Ware |
The dialogue in Nick Payne’s play is exquisite, repetitive,
fast, and non-linear. At one point, time is an eternity; next a quick moment.
Simultaneously, space is the closeness of a woman and man first meeting at a barbecue; next distance of that same couple, now married. The plot? That’s a
tough one. A short synopsis states that the woman is a scientist and the man
works as a beekeeper. Each is smart, funny, vulnerable, and a master at
communication. For example, essentially the lines are spoken three or four
times. With emphasis on a single word, toss of a head, or stance, the
discussion differs completely.
Kate Baldwin and Graham Rowat (married in real-life) give
and take their dialog at a swift pace, leaving no lulls. They discuss the
mundane (including bees) and the universal (fate vs. freewill). It is somewhat
hard to remember having seen this duo just last summer as the stars of BTG’s
“Bells Are Ringing.” The musical was light, fun, and called for some nice vocal
chords, but not the heavy duty acting in “Constellations.” Hopefully, Baldwin
and Rowat keep bringing their talent to Berkshire Theatre.
Director Greg Edelman and lighting/scenic designer Alan
Edwards meld what appears simple – after all, it’s just a round stage with some
altering lights against a flat rectangle – to set countless small scenes. A
single spot light creatively and effectively alters the present from the
future, or the present for one character with the past of the other.
“Constellations” is not your typical play. Starts and stops,
forwards and backwards, up and down and sideways; the script is void of
chronology. Yet, it all makes sense.
