Lungs

by Duncan Macmillan

seen by live streaming from the Old Vic on 3 July 2020

(apologies for not posting this sooner)

This two-handed play starring Matt Smith and Claire Foy was performed at the Old Vic last year. In the current lockdown the two actors, directed by Matthew Warchus, agreed to give six new performances in a revised format to be made available by subscription - that is, by buying a 'ticket' to gain access to the live transmission of a selected performance.

In line with government requirements in response to the coronavirus most theatres in London are still closed. The Old Vic has devised a means of bringing performances to a wider public by choosing short plays with minimal casts and selling 'tickets' for the right to watch a performance at home. The performance is filmed on the Old Vic's stage, with no audience in the auditorium and a skeleton film crew which maintains social distancing.

The stage was virtually bare, with just two small platforms, one for each actor to sit or lie on at certain points; they scrupulously kept their distance from one another, but for much of the time there was a separate camera trained on each of them, mostly in close-up and so resembling a Zoom video. It was very clever technically speaking.  

As for the play itself, it is an intense look at a young couple, well-meaning, aware of the greater problems in the world (climate change and economic damage), wondering if they should have a child together. The prospect brings up all sorts of doubts and tensions, and things go horribly awry, though there is a strong hint that they have an abiding future together. The performances revealed the style of both actors, I think, Foy seeming quite self-possessed but banking down great gusts of emotion, Smith good at a certain type of masculine awkwardness and insecurity. I found parts of it far too wordy, especially when the woman was establishing her eco credentials, and I am quite relieved that I did not pay for an expensive ticket to see it last year, while at the same time being glad to see it here at home.