Jake Gyllenhaal will make his Broadway debut in the American premiere of Nick Payne's celebrated play Constellations, directed by Michael Longhurst. Previews for the limited engagement, presented by Manhattan Theatre Club and the Royal Court Theatre, begin December 16, 2014 prior to a January 13, 2015 opening.
Billed as "an explosive new play about the boundless potential of a first encounter, free will, and friendship," Constellations opened in 2012 in a Royal Court production directed by Longhurst and starring Sally Hawkins and Rafe Spall. The Independent called the two-hander "dazzling, exhilarating, and extraordinary," while The New Yorker described it as "at once eloquent, mysterious, witty, and brilliant." After it transferred to the West End it won the Evening Standard Award for Best Play as well as an Olivier Award nomination.
Payne's plays have been produced at venues including the Hampstead Theatre and Gate Theatre, and in New York. The Roundabout Theatre Company's Off-Broadway production of his If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet--a play which won the 2009 George Devine Award for Most Promising Playwright--also featured Gyllenhaal, with Longhurst directing, and the actor received nominations from the Drama League and Lucille Lortel Awards for his performance.
The Brits love Gyllenhaal, having awarded him a BAFTA for his Oscar-nominated performance in Brokeback Mountain, so it's only fitting his Broadway debut should be in a British play. John Lahr called Constellations a "sort of Cubist chronicle [that] moves from pickup to seduction, to marriage, to illness (cancer), to imminent death…I can’t say I grasped for certain what the play means. But I do know the real thing when I see it."
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