Review: CONSTELLATIONS by Red Turnip Theater

By Emmanuel Evan Alba

Manila, Philippines--Nick Payne's CONSTELLATIONS has its flaws, but the humble ambition of this play, which premiered at the Royal Court Theatre's Jerwood Theatre Upstairs in London in 2012, delivers beyond what you expect. It's simply quantum mechanics--full of philosophical consequences and interpretations. It will leave you thinking what would be the outcomes of what you're doing right now. Everything is relative, right?

The experience starts the minute you enter Red Turnip Theater's new location, the Power Mac Center Spotlight's (Level 2, Circuit Lane, Circuit Makati) black box theatre--a completely different color, literally and figuratively, from the theater company's previous venue, Whitespace Manila. The smoky room matched with a constellation set and strings will make you think the play is definitely not your conventional love story. And yes, it's true because there's no singular storyline. You have to create your own.

The play is like a multitude of stars that represent the different views and could-have-been situations. (It could have been excellent though if it weren't for some technical and physical limitations of the performance space.)

The play consists of only two actors and a minimalist set, but the scenarios tied to one act is enough and already comparable to longer plays. We can't imagine it being any longer as CONSTELLATIONS is a showcase of depth, range, creativity, philosophy, and even science.

Cris Villonco (Marianne), is the Sun of Constellations--brilliant (as usual), staggering, powerful. No personality is the same. She shows a wider range of emotion: from a quirkily likeable woman to a complete b*tch, to a person about to die.

JC Santos, on the other hand, is the Moon as he plays the beekeeper Roland. He's the more silent character, but he's more brooding because he shines when everything is toned down. He's not in-your-face, and he's the breather to Cris's character. This is probably why it works. The only heavenly bodies shine in their own ways.

You may want to watch the play twice or even more just to catch what the play is communicating, though. We call it the "Interstellar" of live theater. Like the vastness of the outer space, CONSTELLATIONS cannot be contained.

Directed by Rem Zamora, CONSTELLATIONS is Red Turnip Theater's third season finale. According to press notes, the show's "spellbinding, romantic journey begins with a simple encounter between a man and a woman. But what happens next defies the boundaries of the world we think we know--delving into the infinite possibilities of their relationship and raising questions about the difference between choice and destiny."

The play won the Evening Standard Award for Best Play and was nominated for Best Play at the 2013 Laurence Olivier Awards.

CONSTELLATIONS closes tonight, 8 p.m.

For last minute tickets, visit TicketWorld.com.ph or call (632) 891-9999.

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