Physics hits the West End

Science is no stranger to cinema, being a regular staple of Hollywood blockbusters ever since Star Wars in the 1970s through to Prometheus last year. But without computer-generated special effects it has rarely found its way onto the stage. Now a major West End play Constellations takes up the mantle, tackling ideas of multiple universes. Writer Nick Payne originally took inspiration from a US documentary, The Elegant Universe , in which Mike Duff (Physics) made an appearance, talking about parallel universe theories. However, the first Mike heard of all this was when he received a call from Nick asking him to come to rehearsals and give a presentation on physics to the actors and also to write an introduction piece in the programme for theatregoers. "I was delighted, I don't often get involved in the arts and theatre, so I went along to the Royal Court and met the lead actors Sally Hawkins and Rafe Spall, and they did a little rehearsal for my benefit. It's a boy-meets-girl story with a twist, in that they meet over and over again in different universes, so the same scene is played out but with subtly different outcomes and subtly different emphases; in one universe she's unfaithful to him and in another universe he's unfaithful to her. He's a beekeeper, and she's a quantum physicist, so they don't understand each other's work at first. So when she describes to her boyfriend what she does, Nick and the crew wanted to make sure that it made sense - would a quantum cosmologist actually say that?