Payne - Constellations

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Dedicated to Dad Chris Campbell, Jim Carnahan, Dominic Cooke, Lucy Cullingford, Lee Curran, Lucy Davies, Vicky Featherstone, Simon Godwin, Jake Gyllenhaal, Daisy Haggard, Sally Hawkins, Kate Horton, Mike Longhurst, Annie MacRae, David McSeveny, Lynne Meadow, Tom Scutt, Simon Slater, Rafe Spall, Vanessa Stone, Catherine Thornborrow, Evanna White, Ruth Wilson, all of the staff at Manhattan Theatre Club and all of the staff at the Royal Court Theatre. Professor John D.

Barrow, Steve Benbow, Cancer Research UKs Information Nurses, Professor Mike Duff, Dr John Gribbin, Professor Andrew Liddle, Silvan Luley and Ludwig A. Minelli (Dignitas), Duncan Macmillan, Dave Moore, Dr Kathy Romer and Charlie Swinbourne. Ben Hall and Lily Williams at Curtis Brown. Mum. I would like to acknowledge the following books and their authors: On Being by Peter Atkins, The End of Time by Julian Barbour, The Book of Universes by John D. Barrow, From Eternity to Here by Sean Carroll, Beekeeping by Andrew Davies, Sum by David Eagleman, The Immortalization Commission by John Gray, The Elegant Universe and The Hidden Reality by Brian Greene, In Search of the Multiverse by John Gribbin, The Memory Chalet by Tony Judt, The Oxford Companion to Cosmology by Andrew Liddle and John Loveday, Quantum Theory: A Very Short Introduction by John Polkinghorne and The Trouble with Physics by Lee Smolin.

Lastly, I would like to acknowledge A Memoir of Living with a Brain Tumour by Tom Lubbock, originally published in The Observer , November 2010. CONTENTS Constellations had its world premiere at the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, Sloane Square, London, on January 13, 2011. MARIANNE Sally Hawkins ROLAND Rafe Spall DIRECTOR Michael Longhurst DESIGNER Tom Scutt LIGHTING DESIGNER Lee Curran COMPOSER Simon Slater SOUND DESIGNER David McSeveney CASTING DIRECTOR Amy Ball ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Sam Caird PRODUCTION MANAGER Tariq Rifaat BSLBT CONSULTANT Daryl Jackson STAGE MANAGERS Rhiannon Harper, Bryan Paterson STAGE MANAGEMENT WORK PLACEMENT Amy Burkett COSTUME SUPERVISOR Iona Kenrick The American premiere of Constellations was produced by the Manhattan Theatre Club (Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director; Barry Grove, Executive Producer) and the Royal Court Theatre, by special arrangement with Ambassador Theatre Group and the Dodgers, at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. The first performance was on December 16, 2014. MARIANNE Ruth Wilson ROLAND Jake Gyllenhaal DIRECTOR Michael Longhurst SCENIC AND COSTUME DESIGNER Tom Scutt LIGHTING DESIGNER Lee Curran SOUND DESIGNER David McSeveney MOVEMENT DIRECTOR Lucy Cullingford ORIGINAL MUSIC Simon Slater CASTING Jim Carnahan and Nancy Piccione STAGE MANAGER Peter Wolf CHARACTERS Marianne Roland The reductionist worldview is chilling and impersonal.

It has to be accepted as it is, not because we like it, but because that is the way the world works. Steven Weinberg in Brian Greene, The Elegant Universe Science continues to be a channel for magic the belief that for the human will, empowered by knowledge, nothing is impossible. This confusion of science with magic is not an ailment of a kind that has a remedy. It goes with modern life. Death is a provocation to this way of living, because it marks a boundary beyond which the will cannot go. John Gray, The Immortalization Commission Why should the universe have a purpose? The question of the purpose of the universe is an invention of human minds, and has no significance, except for the way that it illuminates the psychology of scholarly pursuit and of the pursuing scholars themselves.

We should not impose human-inspired attitudes and questions on material things. There is a considerable grandeur, I think, in the presence of our spectacularly majestic universe just hanging there, wholly without purpose. Peter Atkins, On Being An indented rule indicates a change in universe. Marianne Do you know why its impossible to lick the tips of your elbows? They hold the secret to immortality, so if you could lick them, theres a chance youd be able to live forever. But if everyone did it, if everyone could actually lick the tips of their elbows, then thered be chaos. Roland Im. Roland Im.

Im in a relationship. So. Yeah. * * * Marianne Do you know why its impossible to lick the tips of your elbows? They hold the secret to immortality, so if you could lick them, theres a chance youd be able to live forever. But if everyone did it, if everyone could actually lick the tips of their elbows, then thered be chaos. Because you cant just go on living and living and living.

Roland Ive. Ive just come out of a really serious relationship. So. Yeah. Marianne I was just making conversation. Roland Sure.

Marianne Just trying to start a conversation. Roland No, sure. But. Still. * * * Marianne Do you know why its impossible to lick the tips of your elbows? They hold the secret to immortality, so if you could lick them, theres a chance youd be able to live forever. But if everyone did it, if everyone could actually lick the tips of their elbows, then thered be chaos.

Because you cant just go on living and living and living. Roland Oh right. Marianne Try it. Roland Whats that? Marianne Your elbows, try licking them. Roland Im all right. Marianne attempts to lick her elbows, demonstrating the difficulty.

Marianne Im Marianne. Roland Roland. Marianne Thank God the rains held off. Roland Yeah. Marianne Nothing worse than a soggy barbecue. Roland Yeah.

Marianne Soggy sausages. Would you like a drink? Roland Im all right. My wifes actually just gone to get me a beer. * * * Marianne Try it. Roland Whats that? Marianne Your elbows, try licking them. Marianne attempts to lick her elbows, demonstrating the difficulty.

Roland, initially hesitant, also attempts to lick his elbows. Roland See what you mean. Im Roland. Marianne Marianne. Roland Shame about the rain. Marianne Nothing worse than a soggy barbecue.

Roland So are you, are you a friend of Janes or Marianne No, Jane, yeah. We were at college together. Roland Right. Marianne Yourself? Roland My wife used to work with Jane. * * * Marianne Your elbows, try licking them. Marianne attempts to lick her elbows, demonstrating the difficulty.

Roland, initially hesitant, also attempts to lick his elbows. Roland See what you mean. Im Roland. Marianne Marianne. Roland Shame about the rain. Marianne Nothing worse than a soggy barbecue.

Roland So are you, are you a friend of Janes or? Marianne Whos Jane? Roland Janes the Shes the lady having the barbecue? Marianne Oh, right, Christ, no. I was just walking past and I saw a load of free booze and sausages. Im joking. Roland Right. Marianne Jane and I were at college together. How about you? Roland I play football with Tom.

Marianne Tom? Roland Janes brother-in-law. Bluey-green T-shirt. Marianne Yes. Roland Dyou want a drink? Marianne Im fine. Thanks. Roland So what do you, what do you do? For a living.

Marianne I work at Sussex University. Roland Right. Great. Marianne Yourself? Roland Im a beekeeper. Marianne Really? Roland Yeah, yeah. Marianne Youre really a beekeeper? Roland Im really a beekeeper.

Marianne I fucking love honey. Roland Oh really? Marianne Spoon. Jar of honey. Heaven. Roland What sort of honey do you normally go for? Marianne Im too embarrassed. Roland How dyou mean? Marianne Too embarrassed to tell you.