The beekeeper and the physicist
Roland, an easy-going chap who makes his living as a beekeeper, and Marianne, a warm, intelligent, and witty woman who works at Sussex University as a quantum physicist – the odds of them getting together are astronomical. But when their worlds do collide, they keep on colliding, as all the possibilities of their life together – good, bad and ugly – flicker across the stage in a series of intricately-structured snapshots, from first date to farewell.
Lovers often say fate brought them together, and fate doesn’t get much credit after that. But in Queensland Theatre’s Constellations, by British playwright Nick Payne, every moment that Roland and Marianne share is at the mercy of the infinite and unknowable universe.
Constellations has played to packed houses and rave reviews in New York and London and opens this week at the Bille Brown Studio before touring to 10 regional centres across Queensland.
Queensland-born, Helpmann-nominated actor Lucas Stibbard plays Roland, and Logie Award-nominated Australian television star, Jessica Tovey plays Marianne. It is directed by contemporary theatre director and performance artist and National Artistic Team member, Kat Henry.
Through a partnership with World Science Festival, Queensland Theatre will also host an onstage conversation between Constellations playwright Nick Payne and World Science Festival co-founder and physicist Brian Greene. Following the performances on 24 & 25 March, these two great minds will delve into our current understanding of the multiverse, the mysteries that remain, and why this theory captivated Payne's imagination inspiring this theatrical tour de force. Imagine that we all live in world that is part of a multiverse, in which at any given moment several different outcomes can exist simultaneously. Constellations ingeniously puts this theory on stage through the love of a quantum physicist and a beekeeper!
9 March to 9 April at the Bille Brown Studio, Queensland Theatre
For more information and tickets, visit www.queenslandtheatre.com.au
Constellations Queensland Tour Dates
20 to 21 April – Bundall: Arts Centre Gold Coast
26 April – Townsville: Riverway Arts Centre
29 April – Rockhampton: Pilbeam Theatre
3 May – Mackay: Mackay Entertainment and Convention Centre
6 May – Cairns: Tanks Arts Centre
9 May – Gladstone: Gladstone Entertainment Centre
12 May – Bundaberg: Moncrieff Theatre
16 May – Ipswich: Ipswich Civic Centre
18 May – Toowoomba: Empire Theatre
23 May – Caloundra: The Events centre
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