Lungs, Old Vic in the Autumn

I've only just received e-ticket for 22nd October today.

I have a spare £25 ticket going tonight - won the TodayTix lottery and totally did not expect to so did not have the foresight to invite anyone to come with and now everyone I’ve asked thus far is not available! If anyone here is able to make it down tonight and wants the ticket - drop me a message!

I adored this last night! Duncan Macmillan's dialogue is superb, capturing the way people prevaricate, blunder and qualify their way through conversations. It's a funny, dramatic, specific yet universal, and ultimately profound show, with two wonderful and memorable performances from a neurotic Claire Foy and laid-back Matt Smith.

Some spoilers follow. . .

I can think of three things that might niggle people about this show:

(1) These characters are so woke about the environment that some will dismiss them as cranks and fail to empathise. I mean, I can't imagine Billie Piper's Yerma questioning her biological instincts on the grounds that having a child produces 10,000 tonnes of CO2. Still, Macmillan was ahead of the game on this one, as in 2011, Greta Thunberg was an unknown tot, and now she's a global hero for worrying about exactly the sorts of concerns this couple worry about. In this respect, this play is the zeitgeist!

(2) Claire Foy could be funnier. This is true, as Macmillan writes lines like rollercoasters, twisting and turning with hesitations, qualifications and sudden unsupported assertions, and Foy, rather than playing these twists and turns for laughs, sticks sternly to the slightly unhinged, vulnerable and angry truth of her character. One can imagine the hilarity that could be achieved if someone as emotionally torrential and camp as Andrew Scott were playing the part of this neurotic woman, how low and high he could swing in his efforts to fox and flirt with the audience, how long he would linger on certain flavourful words, how fast he would shoot himself down thereafter. Simply put, with the right actor, the part of Woman could be a laugh riot. It isn't, as Foy plays the part for realism, but the dividend ultimately was that I was reduced to tears.

(3) Macmillan overly leans into the stereotype of the crazy emotional woman and the taciturn protective man. This potential niggle bothered me the longest, as I had Macmillan down for someone who would work to discredit character clichés, rather than use them. But of course, stereotypes can be true in individual cases, and Macmillan works hard to broaden his characters beyond cliche, particularly in the case of Matt Smith's M, who specifically addresses his supposed taciturnity in a wonderful speech that upends the very cliche.

Smith himself is a truly exceptional stage actor, able to hold the stage unselfconsciously in silence, to convey so much, so many colours. I believed him utterly, and he serves the drama more than is immediately evident, for though Foy has the vast bulk of the lines, it is Smith who makes us believe in this couple, that they are a couple, that he loves her in spite, or perhaps because of her neurosis. And when he does get lines, he's natural, original and electric.

The play ultimately is immensely profound, capturing not only the minutiae of how we speak, but also the enormity of the planet and our place in it, and most of all, our entrances and exits. It's terrific!

4 and a half stars.

PS: Before a show, I tend to unwrap 4 polo mints and place them in my breast pocket for quiet consumption during the play, especially during lulls in the action. This play was so gripping for me that I forgot to consume a single mint, something that has never happened before lol!

Spoiler? ;(

Anyone wary of spoilers could just avoid the thread...I think it's fair for people to want to discuss once they have seen it!

Really enjoyed this. It's a nice bitter sweet play with some very touching moments. In spite of its many flaws it's very entertaining thanks to the two excellent actors. They had great chemistry, charisma and stage presence. Highly recommended.

Well now we know, I have to tell you that I was waiting for the bloomin’ flashing lights from the start having been told about them by FOH as we went in. So spoiler it may well have been but nothing to do with the play.

I’m not worried about spoilers really. Obviously 'The butler did it' isn’t helpful so use the tag for that kind of thing. If you think what you want to say might spoil it then use the spoiler tags. So pause and think, probably having to pause means use the tags.

Finding I have more thoughts about this than I expected. It was really a decent 'rediscovery' - suiting the actors and zeitgeist very well (iirc, Ex Reb even camped out last go around in the park opposite, though not for tickets).

I do wonder if you are making something of a rod for your own back with a one-act, 85' two-hander but, like Hansard just up the road, it's accomplished writing. I didn't experience stereotypes though goodness knows how he avoided them.

An interesting titbit I picked up from the workshops on Hansard was different parts of the audience laugh at different parts on different nights - sometimes the women find a chuckle, maybe the politics get a laugh, the men murmur on another night. Also delivery is everything audiences view exactly the same line completely differently depending on phrasing and tone.

On Monday, there was amusement and acknowledgements from both men and women, and both together - which obv suggests he got it pretty right. I was hugely impressed with how the woman was written.

Without going deep into politics, it's clear population is the key to climate control. It's equally clear governments of developed western countries have been addressing native depopulation by increasing immigration, whether from former colonies (the UK and France), or via clever mechanisms labelled 'freedom of movement'.

The great issue we are currently grappling with is how to replace the absurd Ponzi scheme of population growth = financial growth with a new model. Maybe the green new deal is it,maybe not. Perhaps even the EU's determined depopulation of E and SE Europe will, as those countries increasingly re-wild, come to be seen as visionary.

Anyway, with the confidence of a strong script, Prince Phil and Liz continue to bounce of each other though a lifetime of marrital turbulence. Most decent

Pretty good earlier this afternoon but I agree with done that the play losses its way somewhat but the half/two-thirds point. Acting was stellar all round though and definitely worth the visit. I was in D24 of the Baylis which was perfectly clear if you don't mind a bit of distance.

Found this a bit disappointing. Couldn't help comparing it to "Constellations" which had similar staging and was far superior. All seemed a bit flat up to the last few minutes which I really liked



Sat on the back row of the stalls for £30, great view from there.

Agree with @jeanhunt the foyer areas seemed very cramped as did the downstairs bar.  Having the box office between the two stalls entrances means you have to walk through the box office queue to get across that bit. Doesn't help that (I think?) they don't let anyone sitting in the stalls into the upper levels before the show (at least, they are checking tickets before people can use the stairs). Appreciate the theatre is full for this one so won't always be that bad.

I went last week and it was very civilised - security make everyone line up in single file along the wall running down from the stage door towards the main entrance and both Matt and Claire simply walked down the line. They were both very generous with their time and made sure everyone got whatever they wanted signed.

Matt wasn't posing for selfies but told people they could take photos if they wanted to while he signed, then he just wandered off down the street without a car or any security in sight!

Claire came out a bit later and posed for a fair few photos. She seemed genuinely shocked how many people were waiting for her, and was taking the mickey out of Matt's enormous signature not leaving her much space to sign! They both seem very genuine, lovely, down go earth people.


Just realised I haven't posted what I thought of the play! I thoroughly enjoyed it and thought the 80 or so minutes zipped by. I agree it somewhat lost its way in the last third and I was rather irritated by some of the audience behaviour and laughter at inappropriate places, but it really was just a treat to see two wonderful actors at the top of their game being effortless foils for each other. Well worth the ticket price!