I arrived early and got a front row seat for the matinee performance on the first weekend of Fivesparks Theater’s debut show, “Constellations.” Classical music was playing, and the stage across the far end of the room made the space look like an intimate theater rather than an art gallery. On the back wall were five panels painted to suggest the vastness of space. Theatrical lighting spotlit the cosmic setting in which a very human drama would play out. The music stopped, and Bob Eiland, director and producer, came on stage to welcome us to the multiverse and what he called “a dance through time.”
The two actors, Michelle Mount and Jason Myatt walked on stage and immediately assumed the characters of Marianne and Roland. Neither of them is British, but their English accents were completely convincing. I was mesmerized as I watched them meet and meet again and again, each time beginning the conversation in the same way but adding a significant difference that sent the story in a different direction.
Michelle Mount. (Courtesy photo)
The first act moved quickly through a series of short interactions between the two. They went through cycles of emotions, from witty banter to poignant uncertainty. They were in almost constant, perfectly choreographed motion. Periodically, music would complement the movement.
I grasped the relationship developing through time but not in any linear way and that the two characters were making different choices in each given situation that played out with different results. The second act had a more serious tone, without the humor and banter of the first part, and a short interlude of music seemed to underscore this.
There were parts that stood out to me as fitting perfectly with the character but going beyond the immediate context to pose the broader questions of the play. Marianne, the theoretical physicist, at one point asks what if she and Roland are only particles in a vast multiverse in which multiple versions of herself and Roland exist with infinite alternative lives. It’s an overwhelming concept that poses the idea of endless possibilities. At another point, she suggests the relativity of time, “We have all the time we ever had, or never had.”
Roland, a beekeeper, gives Marianne a lesson on the different categories of bees and what their functions are. He says he envies the humble bees because of how clear their purpose is and asks what it would be like if we humans knew what we were supposed to be doing with our lives.
Palpable chemistry, perfect timing
Both actors were amazing. They shifted readily and naturally through a range of situations and emotions. The chemistry between them was palpable in every scenario. Their timing was perfect, and they kept their dramatic energy up throughout. I found myself drawn to them and identifying with all the changes they were experiencing.
Jason Myatt. (Courtesy photo)
Michelle Mount and Jason Myatt very generously hung out in the lobby after the show. I was able to ask Myatt if we were meant to see a carryover of his basic character from one scene to another. He said he and Michelle had discussed that and decided that although everything was related, they would enact each scene as a separate whole. He agreed with me that the script was incredibly challenging but said the repetition was actually helpful for movement and pacing.
‘An exceptional experience’
Mount, surrounded by a large group of friends who had come to see the play, took time to talk to me. She said being Marianne was “an exceptional experience” and that it was an extraordinary team. “It was a privilege to work with such creative people,” and the trust among them was “invaluable.” She said she saw the play as a broken up narrative in which all of human experience comes into play. It shows common emotions—love, fear, anger, uncertainty—in different constellations. She gave a perfect image: “It’s a kaleidoscope.” The audience is kept wondering, what form will come next? The premise of the play is that if there are many universes and time and space are relative, then there are endless opportunities for choices that result in different ends.
In the authentic Playbill, Eiland writes: “As we witness this intricate, intimate dance through space-time, perhaps we are prompted to look back at our own choices and wonder, ‘What if?’”
I found myself thinking about this and all the other ideas raised by the play. And I can still picture and hear some of the emotional exchanges between the two characters so powerfully enacted by Mount and Myatt.
Reservations for the show on May 15, 16, and 17 can be made at fivesparks.org.
