Jake Gyllenhaal's Broadway debut
Jake Gyllenhaal makes his Broadway debut in Nick Payne's intellectual drama, Constellations. The play - which premiered on the West End in 2012 - is an emotional and thoughtful look at one romance as it might exist across parallel universes, and the impact that chance can have on shaping our entire future. This is the second time Gyllenhaal is taking on one of Nick Payne's characters - he was previously seen Off-Broadway in 2012's If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet.
The play unfolds in one act that lasts just over an hour, with each scene building the several narratives that depict the potential courses their relationship could run, as well as raising some serious questions on the nature of love and trust in a world where so much of what we do and think is derived from language signals that could have multiple meanings. Constellations received immense praise from critics when it ran in London, and this Broadway production sees director Michael Longhurst striving to recreate this success in New York City and with a new cast.
What is Constellations about?
Beekeeper Roland (Gyllenhaal) meets quantum physicist Marianne at a BBQ where they immediately hit it off. The rest of their relationship, however, doesn't always run as smoothly and this is explored through a chain of scenes which imagine how their lives might be turning out in parallel universes where a different word chosen or decision made has a 'butterfly effect in determining the course of their relationship.