Marry me in the multiverse: 'Constellations' at APT hits reset

Lindsay Christians, The Cap Times

In Emma Straub’s novel “This Time Tomorrow,” the main character’s dying father tells her the good news about hopping between universes: “Life is pretty sticky,” he says. “It’s hard to change things too much.”

Nick Payne must share this philosophy, as his 2012 play “Constellations” charts the dozens of little decisions that alter the lives of Roland and Marianne. Onstage in American Players Theatre’s Touchstone Theatre through Sept. 28, “Constellations” is a multiverse love story, a theme and variations starting with “boy meets girl.”

They meet at a barbecue, but he’s got a girlfriend: reset.

They meet, but he’s fresh out of a serious long-term relationship: reset.

They meet, she’s charming. It’s going well. But wait, now he’s married: reset.

Every time, Marianne makes the first move. Every time there’s a spark, a bit of “what might be” fizzing in the air.

At APT, “Constellations” reads like a 70-minute love letter, reflected and refracted through a fun house mirror. Director Vanessa Stalling pairs clear staging with a touch of chaos as Roland and Marianne meet, break up, come together and part ways again.

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