Few theatregoers captivated by Constellations some months ago would have thought that there was any scope for improvement in this ethereal two-hander by Nick Payne. However, Scheepers’s staging in Afrikaans titled Hemelruim has enhanced its appeal to local audiences, with names like Observatory and Bellville replacing urban references in the Broadway original.
The qualities that made Constellations memorable are still in place: the subtle interplay between abstractions and reality as well as a cosmic wafting between multiple outcomes of a single event or conversation, all possible and plausible.
This play charts the evolution of a universal love story: boy meets girl; edgy relationship mellows into abiding love; commitment follows.
Devoted couple affected by incurable disease and death the plot may not be original (Erich Segal’s novel Love Story springs to mind), but its presentation is unconventional and fascinating.
He (now Roelof) is grounded in his career of bee-keeping in Bellville, while she (Mariaan) inhabits the rarified world of academia as she investigates astrophysics at UCT.
This divergence of interests is matched by the dissimilarity of their characters. Her obsession with theory counters his down-to-earth approach to life, creating an attraction of opposites which results in robust exchanges between the pair.
Van Wyk Loots is heart-melting as the bold, slightly goofy young woman of powerful intellect and strong emotional needs, her persona complemented by Du Toit’s Roelof.
He is quiet, warm-hearted, conventional and not given to speculation on the cosmos. Both are immensely likeable and worm their way into the hearts of the audience on their journey through life, love and loss.