Constellations

by Nick Payne

Overview

"A singular astonishment." —John Lahr, The New Yorker

One relationship. Infinite possibilities.
In the beginning Marianne and Roland meet at a party. They go for a drink, or perhaps they don't. They fall madly in love and start dating, but eventually they break up. After a chance encounter in a supermarket they get back together, or maybe they run into each other and Marianne reveals that she's now engaged to someone else and that's that. Or perhaps Roland is engaged. Maybe they get married, or maybe their time together will be tragically short.
Nick Payne's Constellations is a play about free will and friendship; it's also about quantum multiverse theory, love, and honey.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780865477711
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date:	12/16/2014
Pages:	96
Sales rank:	554,909
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Nick Payne is the author of the plays If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet, which won the London Evening Standard Theatre Award for best play; Wanderlust; One Day When We Were Young; and Lay Down Your Cross, among others. He is the winner of the 2009 George Devine Award for Most Promising Playwright and the 2012 Harold Pinter Playwright's Award. He is currently under commission with the Royal Court Theatre, the Donmare Warehouse, and the Manhattan Theatre Club. He was born in 1984 and lives in Norwich, England.

Read an Excerpt

Constellations

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By Nick Payne

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Copyright © 2012 Nick Payne
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-86547-771-1

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CHAPTER 1

Marianne Do you know why it's impossible to lick the tips of your elbows? They hold the secret to immortality, so if you could lick them, there's a chance you'd be able to live forever. But if everyone did it, if everyone could actually lick the tips of their elbows, then there'd be chaos. Because you can't just go on living and living and living.

Roland I'm. I'm in a relationship. So. Yeah.

* * *

Marianne Do you know why it's impossible to lick the tips of your elbows? They hold the secret to immortality, so if you could lick them, there's a chance you'd be able to live forever. But if everyone did it, if everyone could actually lick the tips of their elbows, then there'd be chaos. Because you can't just go on living and living and living.

Roland I've. I've just come out of a really serious relationship. So. Yeah.

Marianne I was just making conversation.

Roland Sure.

Marianne Just trying to start a conversation.

Roland No, sure. But. Still.

* * *

Marianne Do you know why it's impossible to lick the tips of your elbows? They hold the secret to immortality, so if you could lick them, there's a chance you'd be able to live forever. But if everyone did it, if everyone could actually lick the tips of their elbows, then there'd be chaos. Because you can't just go on living and living and living.

Roland Oh right.

Marianne Try it.

Roland What's that?

Marianne Your elbows, try licking them.

Roland I'm all right.

Marianne attempts to lick her elbows, demonstrating the difficulty.

Marianne I'm Marianne.

Roland Roland.

Marianne Thank God the rain's held off.

Roland Yeah.

Marianne Nothing worse than a soggy barbecue.

Roland Yeah.

Marianne Soggy sausages. Would you like a drink?

Roland I'm all right. My wife's actually just gone to get me a beer.

* * *

Marianne Try it.

Roland What's that?

Marianne Your elbows, try licking them.

Marianne attempts to lick her elbows, demonstrating the difficulty. Roland, initially hesitant, also attempts to lick his elbows.

Roland See what you mean. I'm Roland.

Marianne Marianne.

Roland Shame about the rain.

Marianne Nothing worse than a soggy barbecue.

Roland So are you, are you a friend of Jane's or –

Marianne No, Jane, yeah. We were at college together.

Roland Right.

Marianne Yourself?

Roland My wife used to work with Jane.

* * *

Marianne Your elbows, try licking them.

Marianne attempts to lick her elbows, demonstrating the difficulty. Roland, initially hesitant, also attempts to lick his elbows.

Roland See what you mean. I'm Roland.

Marianne Marianne.

Roland Shame about the rain.

Marianne Nothing worse than a soggy barbecue.

Roland So are you, are you a friend of Jane's or ...?

Marianne Who's Jane?

Roland Jane's the – She's the lady having the barbecue?

Marianne Oh, right, Christ, no. I was just walking past and I saw a load of free booze and sausages. I'm joking.

Roland Right.

Marianne Jane and I were at college together. How about you?

Roland I play football with Tom.

Marianne Tom?

Roland Jane's brother-in-law. Bluey-green T-shirt.

Marianne Yes.

Roland D'you want a drink?

Marianne I'm fine. Thanks.

Roland So what do you, what do you do? For a living.

Marianne I work at Sussex University.

Roland Right. Great.

Marianne Yourself?

Roland I'm a beekeeper.

Marianne Really?

Roland Yeah, yeah.

Marianne You're really a beekeeper?

Roland I'm really a beekeeper.

Marianne I fucking love honey.

Roland Oh really?

Marianne Spoon. Jar of honey. Heaven.

Roland What sort of honey do you normally go for?

Marianne I'm too embarrassed.

Roland How d'you mean?

Marianne Too embarrassed to tell you.

Roland Why's that?

Marianne whispers the following into Roland's ear: 'I like Tesco. The really dirty stuff, the prison stripe stuff.'

Roland That's all right.

Marianne Really?

Roland Of course.

Marianne I'm not putting honest, hard-working beekeepers out of business?

Roland Wouldn't've thought so.

Marianne Do you think I'm a honey philistine?

Roland Some of the supermarket stuff's all right.

Marianne Really?

Roland Yeah, some of it's fine, yeah.

Marianne So – And I mean don't take this the wrong way, but, I mean, are you –

Roland Go on.

Marianne You – I mean do you make a living?

Roland I do, yeah.

Marianne I mean from beekeeping.

Roland From beekeeping.

Marianne How does it – I mean how does it –

Roland Well. I used to, I used to work for a friend of mine. In Wiltshire.

Marianne Very nice.

Roland After a while though, decided I wanted to go into business on my own. But my, my girlfriend – ex-girlfriend –

Marianne I'm sorry for your loss.

Roland What's that?

Marianne No – I was – I was making a –

Roland Right.

Marianne Sorry for your loss as in –

Gestures, sliding a finger across her throat, 'killed'.

Roland Right.

Marianne It was just a –

Roland No.

Marianne Anyway, you were –

Roland Yeah, no, so, she, my ex, she wanted to move to London. So we got this one-bed place in Tower Hamlets.

Marianne No wonder you broke up with her, fuck me. I'd've broken up with her if she'd made me leave Wiltshire for fucking Tower Hamlets.

Roland I'm still living there, actually.

Marianne Lovely curries.

Roland There wasn't any room. For bees.

Marianne I see.

Roland We didn't have a garden.

Marianne Bummer.

Roland One day I was up on the roof and I realised it was perfect. So I tidied it up a bit and I got my first hive.

Marianne Amazing.

Roland Went from one to two from two to four. We, we went away. Me and Laura. We went away to Spain and when we got back, we found that the flat had been raided.

Marianne Raided?

Roland I used to keep the honey in bin bags. You know those black, plastic bin liners –

Marianne Yes.

Roland Didn't have a lotta money, at the time, so the bin bags were just a cheap alternative. When we were away though, one of the neighbours called the police. Thought I was brewing up smack or something. They properly went for it. The police. They kicked the front door in, turned the flat upside down and they confiscated all these bin bags filled with the most amazing honey and honeycomb.

Marianne Did that really happen?

Roland Yeah.

Marianne You used to keep honey in bin bags?

Roland Yeah.

* * *

MarianneRoland, I don't think that I can go back to work.

RolandHave they told you that?

MarianneThey're great.

RolandYou've told them then?

MarianneNot yet.

RolandBut you're going to.

MarianneI think so.

RolandBut you haven't said any of this to them?

MarianneThey've said whatever I want.

RolandSo what about part-time?

MarianneI don't know the point.

RolandYou mean the point of going part-time?

MarianneEither I'm walking or I'm

Either I'm walker

I either do it or I don't. Scares me.

RolandWork?

MarianneStopping.

RolandStopping work scares you?

MarianneWhat will I do?

RolandWe'll go away. We can do whatever we want.

MarianneI don't –

RolandI'm being serious.

MarianneI don't –

RolandI mean it.

MarianneI I don't

We can't. I have to have to make a

I have to have a choice.

Control.

* * *

Roland You want me to leave?

Marianne Not in a bad way, but yeah.

Roland Have I done something wrong?

Marianne No.

Roland Have I said something, have I offended you?

Marianne No.

Roland I thought we'd had a nice evening?

Marianne We did.

Roland Coming back here was your suggestion?

Marianne I know, but, on reflection –

Roland Do you wanna come inside, you said.

Marianne I know I know, but now I've changed my mind. I'm allowed to change my mind, aren't I?

Roland If I'm allowed to ask why, sure.

Marianne I just – I'd just rather not get into it.

Roland Can you at least tell me if it's me?

Marianne I just –

Roland I'm not saying specifically – Generally – Generally speaking –

Marianne I'm just going through some things. At the moment. And you're right, we've had a lovely evening and you're right it was my idea to come back here, but, I just, as soon as we stepped inside, I started thinking – I mean I just started thinking –

* * *

Roland You want me to leave?

Marianne Not in a bad way, but yeah.

Roland Have I done something wrong?

Marianne No.

Roland Have I said something, have I offended you?

Marianne No.

Roland Then I don't understand?

Marianne I'm not asking you to understand, I'm asking you to leave.

Roland Bit fucking rich, isn't it?

Marianne I'm sorry?

Roland This was your idea.

Marianne Charming.

Roland I'm just saying.

Marianne Okay –

Roland It's rude.

Marianne Yeah I'd like you to leave now.

* * *

Roland I should probably make a move.

Marianne You don't – I mean don't feel you have to.

Roland I've got a really early start.

Marianne How early's early?

Roland Six.

Marianne You could – I mean you could – Not in a like 'welcome to my lair' way or anything, but – If you wanted, you could. Stay.

Roland I should probably head back.

Marianne Well, look, I mean – Thanks for a really lovely evening.

Roland Likewise, yeah.

Marianne We should – I mean whenever you're free, we should think about –

Roland Definitely, yeah.

Marianne The 'lair' thing was just a joke by the way.

Roland Come again?

Marianne Sofa just folds out. You wouldn't have to stay in my bed. Stop talking, Marianne.

Roland gently kisses Marianne 'goodbye' on the cheek.

* * *

Marianne Not in a bad way, but yeah.

Roland Have I done something wrong?

Marianne No.

Roland Have I said something –

Marianne No.

Roland I thought we'd had a nice evening?

Marianne We did.

Roland Coming back here was your suggestion?

Marianne No, I know, but, on reflection –

Roland Do you wanna come inside, you said.

Marianne I know, but now I've changed my mind. I'm allowed to change my mind, aren't I? I just – I'd just rather not get into it.

Roland I went on another date a couple of weeks ago. Almost exactly the same thing happened. So I'm more than happy to leave you to it, but if it is me –

Marianne It's not.

Roland I'm not saying you have to be specific –

Marianne It's not you.

Roland If you had some feedback –

Marianne Feedback?

Roland ' Feedback's not right, but –

Marianne Okay, look, I just. I'm just going through some things. At the moment. My, my mother. She's been ill for a really long time. And. I can't tell whether I want you to stay because I want you to stay or whether I just don't want to go to sleep on my own.

Beat.

Roland I'm really sorry.

Marianne Why don't we just speak in a week or so?

* * *

Marianne and Roland are a little drunk.

Roland Friend of mine said to me when I told him that I was going on a date, he said, 'What does she do?' –

Marianne And what did you say?

Roland I said I don't really know but I think it's something to do with space. And when we were talking about your job earlier on I was nodding along pretty much the entire time but when we stepped through your front door I realised I hadn't really understood a single thing you'd said.

Marianne Most of my time is spent sitting in front of a computer.

Roland Right.

Marianne Inputting data.

Roland Right.

Marianne Cosmic microwave background readings.

Roland Okay.

Marianne Radiation left over from the big bang.

Roland Right.

Marianne Cosmology. Theoretical early universe cosmology.

* * *

Marianne and Roland are a little more drunk.

Roland I said I don't really know but I think it's something to do with space. And when we were talking about your job earlier on I was nodding along pretty much the entire time but when we stepped through your front door I realised I hadn't really understood a single thing you'd said.

Marianne Most of my time is spent sitting in front of a computer.

Roland Right.

Marianne Inputting data.

Roland Right.

Marianne Quantum cosmology.

Roland Right.

Marianne Do you know much about theoretical physics?

Roland Pass.

Marianne Quantum mechanics?

Roland Pass.

Marianne Quantum mechanics focuses on the quantum realm. Atoms, molecules.

Roland Right.

Marianne On nuclear and atomic scales, gravity is pretty much insignificant. But in terms of General Relativity, it's vital.

Roland Okay.

Marianne So you've these two theories that are completely at odds with one another. Relativity covers the sun, the moon, the stars, while quantum mechanics takes care of molecules, quarks, atoms – that sort of thing. We've effectively asked the same question twice and come up with two completely different answers.

Roland This is really sexy by the way.

Marianne The point being –

Roland I had a really amazing time tonight and I'd really like to spend the night.

Marianne But –

Roland With you. I'd really like to spend the night –

Marianne But now we've got string theory. Or, to be a bit more specific, we've got lots of different string theories –

Roland If you'd rather I didn't stay you just have to say.

Marianne And the exciting thing about string theory is that it potentially bridges the gap between relativity and –

Roland You haven't answered either of my questions.

Marianne kisses Roland.

Marianne A by-product of every single one of these theories – almost entirely by accident – is the possibility that we're part of a multiverse.

Roland kisses Marianne.

Despite our best efforts, there are certain microscopic observations that just cannot be predicted absolutely. Now, potentially, one way of explaining this is to draw the conclusion that, at any given moment, several outcomes can co-exist simultaneously.

Roland This is genuinely turning me on, you do realise that?

Marianne In the quantum multiverse, every choice, every decision you've ever and never made exists in an unimaginably vast ensemble of parallel universes.

Roland Everything?

Marianne Everything.

Roland Everything I've ever done?

Marianne Everything you've ever and never done. We should try and keep our voices down, my housemate –

Roland But if everything I'm ever gonna do already exists, then what's the point in me –

Marianne Well –

Roland What's the point in me even –

Marianne Well –

Roland D'you see what I'm saying?

Marianne No, totally, but – Let's say that ours really is the only universe that exists. There's only one unique me and one unique you. If that were true, then there could only ever really be one choice. But if every possible future exists, then the decisions we do and don't make will determine which of these futures we actually end up experiencing. Imagine rolling a dice six thousand times.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Constellations by Nick Payne. Copyright © 2012 Nick Payne. Excerpted by permission of Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Contents

Title Page,
Copyright Notice,
Dedication,
Acknowledgements,
Epigraphs,
Begin Reading,
Also by Nick Payne,
About the Author,
Copyright,

Editorial Reviews

Who knew that higher physics could be so sexy, so accessible—and so emotionally devastating? Constellations, Nick Payne's gorgeous two-character drama, starring a perfectly matched Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Wilson, may be the most sophisticated date play Broadway has seen.” —Ben Brantley, The New York Times

“The play may fixate on physics, but the chemistry between the two leads is potent enough to move an audience to tears.” —Alexis Soloski, The Guardian

“The pleasure of the evening lies in the way it is both eminently sensible and completely nonsensical. Details accumulate sufficiently to explain character and plot, while throwing us so off-guard as to make questions of narrative moot . . . Wilson and Gyllenhaal are tasked with showing us how the slightest shift in emphasis can alter a line's meaning. Wilson has the more commanding stage technique while the approach of Gyllenhaal is more halting and affectionate. Their chemistry is palpable.” —Brendan Lemon, Financial Times

“Short and sweet and strangely haunting . . . Although barely an hour long, this baby bombshell by hot Brit scribe Nick Payne overflows with emotional highs and lows . . . By the end of the play (has it really been only an hour?), we're fully invested in [the characters'] lives. All of them.” —Marilyn Stasio, Variety

“Rarely has quantum physics felt as romantic, as lively as it does in Broadway's Constellations.” —Elisabeth Vincentelli, New York Post

“British playwright Nick Payne's beguiling Constellations is not only a full-bodied narrative, it's a richly affecting experience. That's thanks to the sensitivity of the writing, but also to the warmth, humor and vitality invested in it by Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Wilson, giving two astonishing performances in a production from Michael Longhurst that's as rigorous as it is tender.” —David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter

“We've been down similar roads before in pop culture, with Groundhog Day being the classic version. But Payne puts his own stamp on the idea — and director Michael Longhurst's staging touches both the head and the heart deeply. Even Tom Scutt's lovely set, a bare stage below and beside a huge collection of inflated white balloons, packs a poetic touch. And the cast is swoon-worthy. Gyllenhaal is laid-back and ever-genuine as the passive Roland. Wilson, a two-time Olivier Award winner, is sensual and irresistibly carefree — a perfect foil. Together, they have something elusive: combustible chemistry. Heavenly sparks ensue.” —Joe Dziemianowicz, New York Daily News

“Constellations is smart but not dry; its focus is on the personal and emotional, and Gyllenhaal and Wilson reboot themselves convincingly at every stutter and turn. They're wonderfully multiversatile.” —Adam Feldman, Time Out New York

“Despite abrupt scene and mood fluctuations, Gyllenhaal and Wilson perform the tricky repetitions and time shifts with breathtaking smoothness. Wilson expressively signals Marianne's emotions, whether glee or mischief or heartbreaking vulnerability. Gyllenhaal's performance is more opaque, yet he infuses Roland with decency and an earnest desire to communicate with the better-educated, more emotional Marianne.” —Jennifer Farrar, Associated Press

“Intimate and cosmic concerns are woven together with such grace that they seem inextricable.” —Elysa Gardner, USA Today

“The actors give true tour-de-force performances ... Wilson, a two-time Olivier award-winner honored on Sunday as best actress in a TV series, duels and parries with her partner to memorable effect, whether she's a sloppily emotional figure out on a first date, or an academic methodically enchanted by the mysteries of the universe.” —Robert Kahn, NBC

“[Nick Payne is] one of the most dazzlingly gifted dramatists of a new generation—sharp, funny, wise, humane.” —Vogue

“The nearest I've come across in ages to a play that feels heaven-sent.” —Matt Wolf, The New York Times

“Constellations gets into your head and under your skin with an immediacy that sometimes tickles and often hurts.” —Ben Brantley, The New York Times

“Spry, funny and ultimately very moving . . . A touchingly original study of a relationship and a meditation on that all too familiar refrain: ‘if only.'” —Sarah Hemming, Financial Times

“Wondrously supple . . . The trick the playwright pulls off is to bring a feather-light touch to weighty themes.” —Maxie Szalwinska, The Sunday Times

“Beautiful and brilliant . . . Seldom has a play felt so exhilarating.” —Georgina Brown, Mail on Sunday

“The phrase ‘emotionally satisfying' is rarely seen alongside that of ‘experimental drama'—which makes Nick Payne's arresting, intelligent new play Constellations all the more exciting.” —David Benedict, Variety

“I do know the real thing when I see it. And Nick Payne, a playwright previously unknown to me, is at the beginning of a great career.” —John Lahr, The New Yorker

“Payne is undoubtedly one of the brightest sparks in our playwriting landscape.” —Fiona Mountford, London Evening Standard

“I know it's only January, but if I see a more ingenious, touching and intellectually searching play than Constellations this year, I will count myself very lucky.” —Charles Spencer, The Daily Telegraph

“Not since Mike Bartlett's Cock, so to speak, have I been so exhilarated by a new play . . . Extraordinary.” —Paul Taylor, The Independent

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