‘Constellations’ gets three-actor staging in new Manila production

MANILA — Nick Payne’s “Constellations,” a play about love, choice and parallel realities, will return to the Philippine stage in November with an unusual twist: Three actors will alternate between the roles of Marianne and Roland.

Presented by Stages Production Specialists Inc. and directed by Italian-American Fulbright Specialist Kiara Pipino, the new production expands the original two-hander into a three-actor staging, with Missy Maramara, Jenny Jamora and Topper Fabregas each portraying both characters across the play’s different realities.

No actor is permanently assigned to either role. As the characters move from one possible universe to another, their identities can shift between the three performers.

“Constellations” follows Marianne, a quantum physicist, and Roland, a beekeeper, whose chance meeting at a barbecue develops into a relationship that unfolds across countless possible realities.

A different response or decision can lead to an entirely different version of their relationship, as the play explores the effects of chance, choice, time, illness and mortality.

The production’s three-actor concept further plays with the idea of parallel universes, with the performers becoming different physical embodiments of Marianne and Roland. It poses the question of what makes a particular version of a life meaningful if every possible version could exist.

“Two characters. Three bodies. Infinite possibilities,” the production describes its central concept.

Maramara is known for her work with SPIT Manila and in productions including “The Half Life of Marie Curie” and “Stop Kiss.” Jamora’s theater credits include “Anthropology,” “In the Eyes of the People” and “The Blue Room,” while Fabregas has appeared in “Shrek the Musical,” “Ang Huling El Bimbo” and “Bar Boys: A New Musical.”

Written by Payne, “Constellations” premiered in London in 2012 and has since been staged internationally. The play examines the idea of infinite possibilities through the relationship of its two central characters.

“Constellations” will run November 13-15 and 20-22 at The Mirror Studio Theater in Poblacion, Makati City.

Tickets are priced at P1,500 and are available through the production’s online ticketing page.