Duluth Playhouse Underground is currently putting on a production of Nick Payne’s “Constellations.” This show is like nothing I have ever seen before and deserves to be enjoyed by theater lovers everywhere.

“Constellations” is a two-person show that tells the story of a couple's life together not just in our universe, but also in alternate universes and timelines. Each scene was performed over and over again with identical — or close to identical — lines but they were delivered differently leading to different outcomes. Having this be a play set in the multiverse was something that I was very skeptical about but it worked well.

The basic story that Payne is setting is one that we have all seen before: boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, boy and girl end up together and die together — but what fills up the spaces between? There are so many things that could happen in a couple's relationship because everyone has a different story to tell. Payne covered almost every single outcome and was able to finish the same story with different modifications.

I found the overall plot of this show truly beautiful. Through all the universes, all the timelines and all the different struggles that this couple could have faced…in almost every universe they ended up together.

I think that this show could easily be a flop and not work if you have the wrong cast. But for the opening night the stars, both UMD alums, Alyson Enderle and Phil Hoelscher couldn’t have put on a better performance. The pair's chemistry was so believable and to be able to deliver the same lines over and over again in different cadences without boring the hell out of the audience is like magic.

I felt every emotion Enderle and Hoelscher were given in every universe; I was gasping in shock, holding back tears and just thinking about my own life throughout.

University of Minnesota Duluth Alumni Alyson Enderle and Phil Hoelscher in Constellations. Photo from The Duluth Playhouse.

The small critique I had was that this show did feel like it went on forever. With a runtime of over an hour and a half, because it was a lot of the same scenes over and over again, it felt like things were dragging on and on. There is really no one to fault for this I think it is just the vibe of this show and how it is put on that it is destined to feel a little lengthy.

There wasn’t an intermission in “Constellations,” which is understandable due to the flow of the show and its shorter runtime, but that was another factor that made this feel longer.

This show felt very artsy and as suggested, underground. I am into that stuff so I enjoyed it, but I do think if theater isn’t your thing this show is not for you. “Constellations” is so out there and almost a little interpretive. So theater nerds, make sure to invite your other theater friends and not your grandma who doesn’t know what a multiverse is.

The production aspects of this show were really interesting as well. Starting with the costumes, both characters were in really simple and almost dull outfits that could have fit in any universe in any year which was a really smart choice. The actors were also barefoot and I wasn’t a huge fan of their feet slapping around on the wood floor… but that's just me being a freak who gets weirded out by sounds.

The set design was so cool and one of my favorite physical aspects of the show. It was a spiral platform with different layers so the characters had plenty of different places to sit and stand in those similar scenes. This was just one more added layer that brought the same story back to life over and over again.

This show was put on in The Lab which is directly next to/attached to the Norshor and that was the perfect space for it. The Lab is like a little black box so there couldn’t have been more than 50 people in this space. It made the show feel more personal and close-knit which I really liked.

“Constellations” is showing at The Lab from April 11 through April 27. For more information and to get tickets visit the Duluth Playhouse’s website.

Constellations Review