Category: Rom-Com or Romance

Experience the Multiverse

Produced By: Yes, And! Theatrical Company in residency with New Theatre at Firehouse

At: The Firehouse Theatre, 1609 West Broad St., Richmond, RVA 23220

Performances: January 3 – February 8, 2025

Ticket Prices: $40 general admission; $15 for return visits; $100 for Season 3 Tickets [four shows]

Info: Email: yesandrva@gmail.com; Website: yesandrva.org; Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/yesandrva/

A Theater Review by Julinda D. Lewis

CONSTELLATIONS is, by design, a play of endless possibilities. Playwright Nick Payne has the two actors speak multiple versions of the same lines throughout the course of the play. Director Maggie Roop takes it a step further by having each actor learn both roles and rotating the pairings of partners throughout the run. (Do the math; that results in six possible pairs). Roop describes the resulting product as a Sci-Fi Rom-Com.

WARNING: It is impossible to talk about this play without touching on some spoilers, so if you want to retain your sense of awe and wonder, stop reading here, go see the play, and then come back to finish.

The gist of CONSTELLATIONS is the relationship between Marianne, a physicist who leaps enthusiastically into discourse on quantum mechanics and multiple universes, and Roland, a beekeeper. The two meet at a barbeque and begin a relationship that might be romantic or might not be. It might be rocky or smooth. It might be challenged by infidelity – or not, or it might be on her part, or may his. But after a time, they reconnect at a ballroom dance class – again, for assorted reasons, depending on which version of the story is told at any given time. Eventually they marry, and Marianne falls ill. For all her love of words, that is the first thing she begins to struggle with and, with Roland’s help, she embarks on a journey to seek assisted suicide (which reminded me of Ronan Carr’s The Barber of Moville, which I also saw here at the Firehouse Theatre, in June of 2022: https://jdldancesrva.com/2022/06/28/the-barber-of-moville/ Both plays came from “across the pond,” as Payne is British and Carr hails from Dublin).

I saw CONSTELLATIONS on opening night with John-Michael Jalonen in the role of Roland and Ashley Thompson playing Marianne. I am not familiar with either actor but based on their tightly woven performances in this delightfully quirky two-hander, I would enjoy seeing more of them. Jalonen initially portrays Roland as sort of an everyman but gradually adds more depth and texture to the character. Similarly, Thompson starts off playing Marianne as someone aloof and driven by some sort of mystical philosophical angst but gradually lets us in – as much as you can get close to someone who straddles the multiverse. Ultimately, it seems that the multiverse that most affected Marianne and Roland came from within, rather than from any external sources or forces.

The tragic circumstances are balanced with generous doses of wry humor – spoken in British accents. Director Maggie Roop has ensured that the timing is impeccable, especially when scenes are repeated or revised with alternate outcomes. At times, the two characters are transported into an alternate reality, signaled by changes in their voices, robotic stance, and otherworldly lighting.

Scenic Designer Alyssa Sutherland set CONSTELLATIONS on a multilevel series of wooden platforms with wire mesh sides; honeycombs adorn the walls, an alternative “universe” with two rows of audience seating was added to one side, near the bar, and Kelsey Cordrey filled the auditory space with a dull somewhat ominous rumble. Oh, and there was honey. A honey jalapeño moonshine cocktail at the bar, and straws of straight honey at the box office in the lobby. Sweet.

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Julinda D. Lewis is a dancer, minister of dance, teacher, and writer who was born in Brooklyn, NY and currently resides in Eastern Henrico County. When not writing about theater, she teaches dance history at VCU and low impact dance fitness classes to seasoned movers like herself and occasionally performs.

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CONSTELLATIONS

Written by Nick Payne

Directed by Maggie Roop

Cast

4 actors each portray both roles, Roland and Marianne, and the actor pairings change throughout the run:

John-Michael Jalonen

Marie Lucas

Ashley Thompson

Adam Turck

Production Team

Scenic Design – Alyssa Sutherland

Costume  Design – Emily Atkins

Lighting Design – Michael Jarett

Sound Design – Kelsey Cordrey

Dialect Coach – Erica Hughes

Intimacy Coordinator – Michelle Greensmith

Fight Choreography – Axle Burtness

ASL Coordinator – Allison Polson

Production Stage Manager – Grace Labelle

Assistant Stage Manager – Kennedy Shahan

Director of Production & Scenic Painter – Todd Labelle

Technical Director – Emily Vial

YES, AND! THEATRICAL COMPANY

in residency with NEW THEATRE at FIREHOUSE

Artistic Director – Maggie Roop

Executive Director – Matt Shofner

Performance Schedule

Thursday, January 23, 2025          7:30PM          Preview

Friday, January 24, 2025               7:30PM          Opening Night

Saturday, January 25, 2025           7:30PM

Tuesday, January 28, 2025            7:30PM          Pay What You Can*

Thursday, January 30, 2025          7:30PM

Friday, January 31, 2025                7:30PM

Saturday, February 1, 2025           7:30PM

Sunday, February 2, 2025              2:00PM          Pay What You Can*

Tuesday, February 4, 2025            7:30PM          Pay What You Can*

Thursday, February 6, 2025          7:30PM

Friday, February 7, 2025                7:30PM

Saturday, February 8, 2025           2:00PM

Saturday, February 8, 2025           7:30PM

Tickets

Ticket Prices: $40 general admission; $15 if you return to see a different actor pairing; $20 Rush Rickets at the Box Office one hour prior to all performances

*Pay What You Can: $5 suggested minimum at the door; $10 minimum in advance

Run Time

Approximately 70 minutes with no intermission

Photos N/A

CONSTELLATIONS was originally produced on Broadway by the Manhattan Theatre Club, Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director, Barry Grove Executive Producer, and The Royal Court Theatre by special arrangement with Ambassador Theatre Group and Dodges on December 16, 2014.