Constellations: do not miss your chance


Tell me what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life - Mary Oliver

I started my review of the Alan Ayckbourn time-travel play Communicating Doors with, “What if you could do it all over again and have it come out differently?” For Constellations, now playing (through Sunday 8/7/25) at SecondStory Rep, I want to start off with: what if you are doing it all over again right now?
The multiverse is the idea behind Constellations. I am not sure I know exactly what the multiverse is, but how it came across in this play is that each choice you make ripples and ramifies and leads to a future that possibly is radically different than if you had chosen to respond in another way.
But the play is not a thought experiment. It’s about two people, Marianne, played by Leah Shannon and Roland, played by BJ Smyth. In one universe, they never meet, in one universe they meet but nothing happens, in another universe they meet but break up, in another they get married but it falls apart, and in another it goes until death do us part.
This means we see one version of a scene where Roland and Marianne meet. Then it cuts and we see another, where one or the other responds differently. Other versions follow. Then we see several versions of a scene that seems to be somewhere in the middle of their relationship, where there is strife. Then we see Roland proposing, with several different possible endings. And so on.
But constellations, stars and planets – random chance – play only a small part. What makes the difference in how Roland’s and Marianne's lives go is the choices they make.
One scene in the middle of the play brought this home. It really hit. Roland is put in a difficult spot. Having known the character, I was not sure how he would respond to Marianne, or how I would respond if I were him. First there are a couple of different versions where it ends badly, I’ll say. Then there is a version where Roland reacts in a big-hearted, loving way, instead of being small and resentful, and the result is beautiful.
This is what I mean by, “what if you are doing it all over again right now.” The multiverse may be real, or it might not be, but seeing it played out makes me think: in any situation, there are a lot of possible outcomes of any choice you might make. But this right now is your one chance, your one life, so choose wisely.

Pictured: the set, photo by me

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