''Lungs'' is a play written by Duncan Macmillan, which debuted in 2011 at the

Studio Theatre A black box theater is a performance space, typically a square or rectangular room, with black walls and a black, flat floor. The simplicity of the space allows it to be used to create a variety of configurations of stage and audience interact ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Synopsis

M and W, a young couple, find themselves examining the scope of their lives together and the world around them when they begin considering starting a family.

Production history

World premiere (2011)

''Lungs'' premiered in October 2011 at the Studio Theatre in Washington, D.C., directed by

Aaron Posner Aaron Posner is an American playwright and theatre director. He was co-founder of the Arden Theatre Company in Philadelphia and was the artistic director of Two River Theater from 2006 to 2010. He has directed over 100 productions at major regio ...

and starring Ryan King and

Brooke Bloom Brooke Bloom is an American actress. She is best known for her starring role as Ronah in the drama film '' She's Lost Control'' (2014). Career Her first on-screen appearance was a role as Grunge Girl in the episode "Team Play" of CBS's medical ...

as M and W respectively. It also held its British debut that same month at the

Crucible Theatre The Crucible Theatre, or simply The Crucible, is a theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which opened in 1971. Its name refers to crucible steel, which was developed in Sheffield in 1740 and drove the industrialisation of the city. ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, directed by Richard Wilson, and starring Alistair Cope and

Kate O'Flynn Kate O'Flynn (born 1986) is a British actress. She is known for her performance in National Theatre's production of ''Port'' for which she received a Critics' Circle Theatre Award in 2013, as well as starring roles in plays '' A Taste of Honey ...

Canada (2014, 2015)

Canadian productions of the play were held at the

Tarragon Theatre The Tarragon Theatre is a theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and one of the main centers for contemporary playwriting in the country.

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

in March 2014, starring

Brendan Gall Brendan Gall (born September 2, 1978) is a Canadian writer, actor and producer living in Toronto, Ontario. Early life and education Gall graduated from the George Brown Theatre School. Career Gall has written and/or produced for the televisi ...

and Lesley Faulkner, and in February 2015 at the Verb Theatre, starring Kyle Jespersen and

Anna Cummer Anna Cummer (born January 2, 1977) is a Canadian actress. She was born in Singapore to Canadian parents. She spent half of her adolescence in Southeast Asia and the other half in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. She finished high school in Hong ...

London (2019, 2020)

A 2019 production of the play was hosted at

The Old Vic The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, nonprofit producing theatre in Waterloo, London, England. It was established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Theatre. In 1871 it was rebuilt and reopened as the Royal ...

starring

Matt Smith Matthew Robert Smith (born 28 October 1982) is an English actor. He is known for playing the Eleventh Doctor in the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' (2010–2013), Prince Philip in Netflix's historical series ''The Crown ( ...

and

Claire Foy Claire Elizabeth Foy (born 16 April 1984) is a British actress. She is best known for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in the Netflix drama series ''The Crown (TV series), The Crown'' (2016–2023), for which List of awards and nominations r ...

, with

Matthew Warchus Matthew Warchus (born 24 October 1966) is an English theatre director, playwright, and filmmaker. He has been the Artistic Director of London's The Old Vic since September 2015. Early life and education Warchus grew up in Selby, North Yorkshir ...

directing. Previews began in October prior to a November opening. This production was planned to transfer to the United States at the

Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a multi-arts center in Brooklyn, New York City. It hosts progressive and avant-garde performances, with theater, dance, music, opera, film programming across multiple nearby venues. BAM was chartered in 18 ...

from 25 March – 19 April 2020. Smith and Foy were slated to reprise their roles. Due to the

COVID-19 Pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, this transfer was cancelled. On 27 May 2020, it was announced that the 2019

Old Vic Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

production would be reprised with

and

starring once again. Starting in June, it was part of Old Vic: In Camera, a project aiming to revive the theatre's revenue, which had been wiped out by the closure of theatres caused by the

, through live streams and other digital focused works. Despite being live-streamed over the internet, tickets were limited to 1,000 per performance, representing the full capacity of the house of any regular performance at

. Tickets were available at standard prices (£10–£65) for each performance.

Cast and characters

Critical reception

A 2011 review in '' The Washingtonian'' praised the play as "original and striking", but slighted the characters as "cliche". In her review for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'',

Lyn Gardner Lyn Gardner is a British theatre critic, children's writer, and journalist who contributes reviews and articles to ''The Stage'' and '' Stagedoor'' and has written for ''The Guardian''. Theatre critic and educator A graduate in drama and English ...

wrote: "Duncan Macmillan's distinctive, off-kilter love story is brutally honest, funny, edgy and current. It gives voice to a generation for whom uncertainty is a way of life through two flawed, but deeply human, people who you don't always like but start to feel you might love. It's bravely written, startlingly structured, and if it loses momentum in the final 30 minutes, Richard Wilson's sharp staging and two outstanding performers, Alistair Cope and Kate O'Flynn, keep it buzzing to the end." A review in ''

'' by Arifa Akbar of the 2019 performances at

, starring

and

, praised the production's leads and set design.

Awards and nominations

The play won the 2013 Best New Play award at the Off West End Awards.

won Best Actress at the 2020

WhatsOnStage Awards The WhatsOnStage Awards (WOS Awards), formerly known as the Theatregoers' Choice Awards, are organised by the theatre website WhatsOnStage.com. The awards celebrate outstanding achievements in UK theatre, with categories covering both regional p ...

for her performance as W in the 2019

production.

References

{{Reflist 2011 plays English plays Plays by Duncan Macmillan