Stripped back, minimalist two-hander.Rating
Good
A couple (Özge Erdem and Kemal Kayaoğlu) meet and hit it off; except they don’t. Except they do, but one is already married. Except they do and go on to get married themselves. Except they do but they eventually break up. You might see where this is going. In case you don’t, the physicist half of the couple (played here by Erdem) gives a helpful explanation of multiverse theory, wherein all possible outcomes happen in separate individual universes about a third into the play to clue us all into the relevant metaphysics.
It’s an established script from Nick Payne, translated into Turkish here by Kayaoğlu, that’s won awards in its time but performed here risks feeling overly repetitive. Of course, there’s little this production can do about the script itself, but perhaps more could have been done to finesse bumps in the pacing particularly with support from design elements. Instead, the production is quite bare bones, with only the minimum necessary sound and light, along with two lone stools for the actors to interact with.
Stripped back and minimalist to a fault then, but for a non-English show with a short run of only two performances this is understandable, and at the very least it all gives a foundation for a strong performance from Erdem, who also directs. Her side of the relationship proves to be the most engaging as the manifold possible futures of her character collapse into the same outcome: a terminal illness pre-ordained by her genetics. In these scenes Erdem displays masterful technique as she shifts from a healthy and bubbly young woman to a debilitating patient losing her power of speech and months away from death. Erdem really is standout.
It’s a shame then that monolingual English speakers won’t get as much of her performance as they otherwise might, as the subtitles on the night were less than ideal. Like other elements of design, it feels done with minimal care, being projected onto the right back wall of the stage while the actors remain firmly in the centre, inevitably meaning that for most of the play one is choosing between witnessing the action and understanding it. A little more care here could have gone a long way, but this drawback still doesn’t detract from the moments when the script is strong and the performances keen.
Directed by: Özge Erdem
Assistant Directed by: Aslı Ceren Bozatlı
Written by: Nick Payne
Translated by: Kemal Kayaoğlu
Set and Costume Design by: Sıla Karakaya
Lighting Design by: Kemal Yiğitcan
Sound Design by: Utkan Akçay
Takımyıldızları / Constellations plays at the Arcola Theatre until Friday 20 March.
