Claire Foy and Matt Smith to star in socially-distanced Old Vic play
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 making them remain two metres apart.
Foy and Smith 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 physically interacting will be rewritten with new stage directions.
The artistic director, Matthew Warchus, said: “The socially distanced restating 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.”
He said that the actors, director, stage manager and two camera operators filming for broadcast will remain a safe distance apart.
Audiences will be able to watch online with digital ‘tickets’ priced as they would have been in the auditorium, at £10-£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. The limited run begins next month.
Lungs is the first in a new series, Old Vic: In Camera, aimed at bringing in urgently-needed revenue during lockdown.
Foy and Smith - who appeared together in The Crown are rumoured to be dating in real life - play a couple wrestling with the idea of having a baby at a time of climate change, overpopulation and political unrest.
Warchus said: “All of the plays chosen for the Old Vic: In Camera series are smaller in scale and adapt well to this kind of exploration. Lungs had recently played at the Old Vic and, at the time lockdown started, the company were about to fly to New York to perform a short run at BAM.
“The themes of the production itself are also particularly resonant right now. So for many reasons it was the natural first production with which to begin.”
Explaining why it is necessary to restart productions, The Old Vic said in a statement: “Rekindling live performance in this irrepressible 202-year-old venue, albeit with minimal staging and accessible only via camera and live stream, 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.
The Old Vic is a registered charity which receives no regular public subsidy.
