The Old Vic :: 'Lungs: In Camera'

Since we can't go to the theatre, the theatre came to us. D gifted us a ticket to The Old Vic's live show on Zoom — 'LUNGS: In Camera'. Performed live on stage at The Old Vic in an empty auditorium with real-time audience over Zoom, Claire Foy and Matt Smith flesh out Duncan Macmillan’s somewhat hilarious and emotional 2011 play about a couple wrestling with life’s biggest dilemmas of whether to bring a baby into this world and how they sort out their feelings about each other.

Directed by Matthew Warchus, The Old Vic hosted 'LUNGS' from October to December 2019; the show was scheduled to go on to Brooklyn, USA in March and April. Then the global COVID-19 lockdowns hit, so it was brought into the theatre's 'In Camera' ticketed series. It's really exciting for me because I haven't watched a live play for so long, and I've missed watching plays at The Old Vic. So even I stream this out of a screen, I'm still happy! I was also curious about technical glitches, and the issue of ticket refunds. 

Each performance of LUNGS will be available for up to 1,000 people per night (with some matinees) replicating our usual audience capacity size. Tickets will be priced as they are in our auditorium from £10–£65 and whilst all ‘seats’ offer the same view (from the comfort of your own home), we’re asking audiences to give what they can to help support our theatre in return for access to this totally unique experience. There is also the option to add a further donationon top of this for those who are able to give a little more.

I'm less interested in the answer to the couple’s discussion or the state of their relationship (I don't care about babies, and to birth a offspring is entirely another's personal business), but I'm keen to watch the actors 'live' and how this play would be done for live audiences. The tech team was great in getting the livestream up and running smoothly. The email informing me of my unique passcode came in two days before the show, and I signed in two minutes before 9pm. We ported it out onto the television screen. This was hosted on Zoom, so the resolution wasn't the best, but it would do. Audio was crystal clear.  

Claire Foy and Matt Smith have got pretty good chemistry on stage. That kept the show alive for me. To be very honest, I don't identify with some parts of the conversation because, I never thought about having kids, carrying on the genetic code, etc, so the topics of birthing and raising children are non-issues for me. We trace the couple’s relationship and life through a miscarriage, subsequent break-up then pregnancy and marriage, growing older, climate change, illnesses, death and the treatment by an ungrateful son. I could admire the acting, and enjoy the privilege of watching a play 'live' again.

I'm a huge fan of Claire Foy. (I also love Olivia Colman. I assure you this is not because of The Crown. I hate that doddling show.) I don't mind Matt Smith, so I'm tickled that they've been paired in a play again. The actors acted to an empty Old Vic, but they had audiences joining in this from all over the world. Our tickets were for the 2pm London matinee, which was 9pm Singapore time. We had an early dinner, and coming home to watch the play was perfect as our after-dinner program. I could get used to this — watching a play from the comfort of home; no hassle about parking, exiting or squeezing with humans!