Review Roundup: Allen Leech and Ginnifer Goodwin in CONSTELLATIONS at the Geffen

The Geffen Playhouse today announced that Downton Abbey star Allen Leech will make his U.S. stage debut opposite Ginnifer Goodwin (Once Upon a Time, Big Love) in the Los Angeles Premiere of Constellations, Nick Payne's 2015 Broadway sensation. The Geffen's production is directed by Giovanna Sardelli (Guards at the Taj) and marks Goodwin's Los Angeles stage debut.

Constellations will begin previews on Tuesday, June 6 in the Gil Cates Theater at the Geffen Playhouse, with opening night on Wednesday, June 14. The production closes Sunday, July 16.

Constellations is the story of Roland, a beekeeper, and Marianne, a quantum physicist. What are their odds of falling in love? With infinite moments that can change the trajectory of a life, it's anyone's guess how cosmic collision is possible. Nick Payne's Olivier and Drama League nominated hit is a charming, devastating and profound exploration of the universal truth of finding and losing love. A play that balances on the question of "what if" is, at its core, a poignant picture of "what is."

Manhattan Theatre Club's production of Constellations opened on Broadway in 2015 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Wilson, the production received a Tony Award nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play (Wilson) and a Drama League Award nomination for Best Play.

Let's see what the critics have to say!

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LA Times (Charles McNulty): The actors at the Geffen are more mundane in their characterizations than Wilson and Gyllenhaal, whose beard alone lent Roland a kind of celebrity attraction. Goodwin plays up Marianne's romantic skittishness. If her embarrassed squeals and frequent F-bombs don't suggest the stereotype of the Cambridge scientist, they do hint at a young woman who spends more time analyzing data than socializing with her peers. Leech's Roland, dressed in baggy khakis and a gray vest, is an ordinary bloke whose kindness leaves an extraordinary impression. He knows he's not in Marianne's intellectual league, but his uncommon sensitivity bridges the gap, making their story quite moving at the end.

Hollywood Reporter (Deborah Wilker): In his American stage debut, Leech has the more meaty role and is particularly endearing when his character is most anguished, heart dangling from his sleeve as crisis mounts. He's a mensch and a hound, lovable at every turn.Goodwin, the winsome TV star with the pixie haircut, does not change much about herself physically for this part. Yet despite wearing her everyday look onstage, she is so natural and convincing in this role we see only Marianne, whose steely scientist crumbles as life bears down.

BroadwayWorld (Ellen Dostal): Here at The Geffen, the mind-blowing piece is explored with so much humor and heart-stirring intimacy that its 80+ minutes fly by. Goodwin's intellectual dexterity and nerdy goofiness paired with Leech's grounded simplicity and genuine caring is a contrast in personalities that has us instantly rooting for their happily ever after. If she embodies the head, he is the heart, and together they engage in a dance all lovers know well as the paths they take, or don't take, begin to materialize. We care about their fragile existence as much as we care about our own and resonate with how life, love, and loss affect them.

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