by Nick Payne

Directed by Vicky Newman

Presented by Dionysus Theatre as part of Dionysus Duets

Performed in rotating combinations by: Lauren Whedbee, Kelly Verstappen, David Upcraft & Robert Tremayne

Following their recent critically acclaimed UK tour of Private Lives, the Dionysus Theatre ensemble reunites — only this time, the couples are split apart and re-formed in entirely new constellations. Each performance pairs two of the four actors in a different combination, offering audiences a unique interpretation of Nick Payne’s celebrated two-hander every time they see it.

What if every choice you make — every yes, every no — creates a brand-new universe?

Constellations begins, almost always, at a summer barbeque where Marianne and Roland first meet. Across infinite parallel worlds, their relationship ignites, falters, transforms and loops back on itself. She’s a quantum physicist; he’s a beekeeper. Their connection is improbable — and yet, in some realities, utterly inevitable.

Nick Payne’s award-winning modern classic is a luminous exploration of love, loss, joy and the multiverse of possibilities that shape a life. Premiering at the Royal Court in 2012 before transferring to the West End and Broadway, it remains one of the most influential British plays of the 21st century.

Presented as part of Dionysus Duets — which also features Born With Teeth and Lungs — this new touring production celebrates the thrill of live performance: intimate, immediate, and forever changeable, depending on which two actors share the stage that night.

Nick Payne is an acclaimed screenwriter and playwright. His recent film We Live in Time, starring Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh, was released in 2025 to great success. His other work includes Wanderlust, The Sense of an Ending, and The Last Letter From Your Lover.

by Duncan Macmillan

Directed by Vicky Newman

Presented by Dionysus Theatre as part of Dionysus Duets

Featuring rotating pairings of: Lauren Whedbee, Kelly Verstappen, David Upcraft & Robert Tremayne

Fresh from their acclaimed UK tour of Private Lives, the Dionysus Theatre ensemble reunites for Duncan Macmillan’s fierce and intimate two-hander. In this production, each performance brings together a new couple, drawn from the Dionysus Duets ensemble, stepping into Macmillan’s razor-sharp portrait of two lives colliding.

A couple stand in IKEA.

He asks: “Do you want a baby?”

Her world tilts.

What follows is a breathless journey through love, fear, hope, guilt and the crushing responsibility of trying to live — and maybe create life — in a world that feels increasingly fragile. Their conversations fracture and accelerate across months, years and emotional implosions, with no set, no props, and no escape from the truth.

Macmillan’s acclaimed script is raw, witty and painfully honest. Lungs has captivated audiences around the world with its urgency and stripped-back power. In this Dionysus Duets production, the shifting pairings reveal new textures, contradictions and emotional currents every night — offering a subtly different story depending on which two actors share the stage.

Duncan Macmillan is a celebrated British playwright and screenwriter. His works include People, Places & Things, Every Brilliant Thing, and 2071, performed to international acclaim.

by Liz Duffy Adams

Directed by Vicky Newman

Presented by Dionysus Theatre as part of Dionysus Duets

Starring Robert Tremayne as Christopher Marlowe

and David Upcraft as William Shakespeare

Fresh from playing opposite one another as Elyot and Victor in Dionysus Theatre’s acclaimed UK tour of Private Lives, Robert Tremayne and David Upcraft reunite for Liz Duffy Adams’ thrilling, razor-edged two-hander. Only two actors. One locked room. Two playwrights who might change the world — if they don’t kill each other first.

In a tavern near the Tower of London, Kit Marlowe and a young upstart named Will Shakespeare meet in secret. England is in turmoil. The Queen is dying. Spies lurk everywhere. One wrong word could lead to the scaffold. But these two men — geniuses, rivals, and reluctant collaborators — must write a play together before time runs out.

What begins as a dangerous game of wit, ego and political intrigue soon becomes something far more volatile. Their minds duel as fiercely as swords. Their loyalties blur. Their futures hang by a thread. In the cramped heat of that hidden room, two of history’s greatest writers wrestle with ambition, truth and the cost of surviving under a tyrant’s shadow.

Bold, visceral and bitingly funny, Born With Teeth has been hailed as one of the most exciting new two-handers of the last decade — a tense, quicksilver battle of words and wills. In this Dionysus Duets production, Tremayne and Upcraft bring electric chemistry to Marlowe and Shakespeare, their long-standing stage partnership deepening every twist, betrayal and spark between these literary titans.

Liz Duffy Adams is an award-winning American playwright. Her works include Or, Dog Act, and A Discourse on the Wonders of the Invisible World. Born With Teeth premiered in 2022 and has since garnered widespread acclaim for its sharp humour and explosive theatricality.