Crown stars’ latest play will be their strangest by a (2-metre) distance
THE Old Vic is to stage London’s first socially distanced theatre production, reviving a two-handed play starring Claire Foy and Matt Smith but ensuring they remain two metres apart.
Foy and Smith – stars of the first two series of The Crown – appeared together last year in Lungs, and the show was about to transfer to New York.
Instead, it will return to the empty auditorium at the Old Vic, and scenes that previously involved Foy and Smith in close proximity will be rewritten with new stage directions.
The actors, director, stage manager and two camera operators filming the play for broadcast will all remain a safe distance apart.
Matthew Warchus, the artistic director, said: “The social distanced restaging of Lungs will be an interesting experiment. The original production deliberately incorporated a lot of telling physical interaction – the characters repeatedly flung apart and then entwined again and again.
In this version they will never touch throughout their entire lifelong relationship. That will be a poignant twist, maybe. We are going to learn a lot as we navigate the rehearsal and filming process putting this together.” Audiences will be able to watch online with digital “tickets” priced as they would have been in the auditorium, ranging from £10 to £65. The venue said: “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.” Each performance will be available for up to 1,000 people per night, with some matinees, replicating the size of the theatre audience.
Lungs is the first in a new series, Old Vic: In Camera, aimed at bringing in much needed revenue during lockdown. Foy and Smith – who are rumoured to be dating – play a couple wrestling with the idea of having a baby at a time of climate change, overpopulation and political unrest. The Old Vic is a registered charity which receives no regular public subsidy.