Nick Payne’s Constellations runs at The Baxter Studio in Cape Town from 2 to 20 June before heading to Johannesburg for a run at Theatre On The Square from 23 June to 11 July.
Directed by industry luminary and renowned choreographer Jay Pather (The Firebird; Bridling; Hold Still; Siwela Sonke Dance Theatre), Constellations is a spellbinding exploration of love, choices quantum theory, and infinite possibility for heartbreak or for hope. Through a kaleidoscope of moments between two people, it asks what might happen if every version of our lives existed at once – and whether love can endure across them all.
The stellar cast features Mark Elderkin (Amadeus; Speelgoed van Glas/The Glass Menagerie; A Midsummer Night’s Dream) and Mwenya Kabwe (Hold Still; Yellowman; mAnJE! MaNje (an epic)).
Marianne, a physicist, and Roland, a beekeeper, meet at a barbeque. They hit it off, and go for a drink. Or perhaps they don’t. They go home together, or maybe they go their separate ways. Perhaps Marianne is engaged to someone else, perhaps Roland is. Maybe she breaks his heart, maybe he breaks hers. Perhaps they come together and their love story can finally take root and grow, or perhaps it will be tragically cut short.
Constellations contemplates how even the smallest change in our lives can dramatically alter the course we take.
“We have all experienced an ‘if only’ moment. What if I had done something differently, said something else? Would it have worked out better?” says director Jay Pather.
“Constellations is a remarkable play that evokes this human frailty through compelling text, sometimes hilarious, sometimes heart wrenching that builds steadily with the inevitability of ancient ritual and Greek drama.”
How Now Brown Cow presents the South African premiere of Suzie Miller’s award-winning Prima Facie directed by celebrated theatre maker Neil Coppen (Isidlamlilo/TheFire Eater; Animal Farm; Tin Bucket Drum).
Danica De La Rey Jones (Hunting Jessica Brok; Unseen; For Colored Girls) performs the role of Tessa, a brilliant young barrister, who climbs her way up from working class origins to the top of her game: defending, cross examining and winning.
Tessa believes in the legal system until a brutal attack turns her world upside down as she navigates the same system she once championed. Now put on trial herself, re-traumatized through her cross-examination, she finds herself questioning everything she believed about justice.
Prima Facie is a hard-hitting look at the “patriarchal power of the law” where the burden of proof and existing rules of evidence often work against victims of sexual violence.
The 2022 London production of the show was nominated for five Laurence Olivier Awards, with wins for Best New Play and Best Actress for Jodie Comer, who subsequently won a Tony Award for the same role on Broadway in New York.
“I’m honoured to be directing the South African premiere of this production, the themes of which matter deeply to me and all of us as South Africans who live with some of the highest and most horrific gender-based violence statistics in the world,” says Neil Coppen, director of Prima Facie.
“Suzie Miller’s play has had performances across the globe, and over the last few years has been translated into multiple languages. This will be the first time it’s been performed in South Africa, and I couldn’t imagine a more urgent and pertinent context to be presenting the play within.”
“Beyond merely presenting a gripping staging of Prima Facie on South African stages, I’m excited by the opportunity this creates to use the production strategically to deepen the discussion around its concerns and themes with our audiences.”