On May 8 Ashland New Plays Festival Presents a Dramatic Reading of CONSTELLATIONS
A romantic exploration of one relationship in multiple universes by British playwright Nick Payne
“In the quantum multiverse, every choice, every decision you’ve ever and never made exists in an unimaginably vast ensemble of parallel universes.” – CONSTELLATIONS
>From London, to Broadway, to Ashland! Join us for this special, one-night-only dramatic reading of the “spellbinding, romantic journey” of CONSTELLATIONS. What begins as a simple encounter between a man and a woman then delves into the infinite possibilities of their relationship and asks us to think about the difference between choice and destiny.
ANPF’s staged reading is directed by ANPF’s Associate Artistic Director Jackie Apodaca and stars Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Alejandra Escalante and Daniel José Molina, who also starred together as the title characters in OSF’s 2012 production of ROMEO AND JULIET. This season at OSF you can see them in HENRY IV, PART ONE and TWO.
“I feel lucky to be able to explore this text with our wonderful cast in what are sure to be honest and nuanced performances. Not only will they need to live through their characters’ stories, but to live them repeatedly, variably, as the story flitters between universes,” says Apodaca.
CONSTELLATIONS is about the mystery of time, the multiplicity of our choices, and the minutiae of life’s many paths. Playwright Nick Payne has gathered those themes into scenes from a single relationship, spread out over numerous tracks in multiple universes. “It’s hard to explain,” Apodaca says, “but easy–I think–to understand.”
For Apodaca, the play’s focus on time is something she thought a lot about when her young son became interested in physics and string theory. “We watched a lot of Nova and Brian Greene specials. The irony of learning about time while watching time change my son was not lost on me,” she says. Referring to the parent’s adage, ‘It goes so fast!’ Apodaca continues, “It’s true…except when it drags. Time, like anything worth understanding, is shrouded in mystery.”
The dramatic reading will be held on Monday, May 8, at 7:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Center, 87 Fourth Street, in Ashland. Tickets are $20 and are available online and at the door.
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit ANPF’s website at www.ashlandnewplays.org.
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