The Crown’s Claire Foy and Matt Smith reunite in online virtual event

London: The Old Vic theatre has announced a new online initiative staring The Crown’s Claire Foy and Matt Smith in Duncan Macmillan’s emotional play Lungs. The online streamed event will be followed by a series of rehearsed readings, streamed live from the Old Vic with social distance measures being adhered to and an empty auditorium as the backdrop.

Lungs is a play written by Duncan Macmillan and debuted in 2011 at the Studio Theatre in Washington DC. The story follows M and W, a young couple, who find themselves grappling with the prospect of starting a family in the scope of their lives.

Rekindling live performance in this irrepressible 202-year-old venue, albeit with minimal staging and accessible only via camera, is a genuine thrill for us. But this series is both an exciting creative experiment and also crucial in igniting the box office now all our usual channels of revenue have been entirely wiped out and we fight to preserve this beloved theatre for our audiences, surrounding schools and communities, staff, crew, and the myriad of writers, performers and creatives that work with us.

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 donation on top of this for those who are able to give a little more.

Lungs is scheduled to begin socially distant performances in June with exact dates to be announced.