Old Vic production of LUNGS (on Zoom)

[Relevance81491]

Posted: 6/10/20 at 7:09am

this is the production that was supposed to play BAM in the spring. 

The ice caps are melting, there’s overpopulation, political unrest; everything’s going to hell in a handcart – why on earth would someone bring a baby into this world?

Directed by Matthew Warchus, Claire Foy and Matt Smith perform a socially distanced version of Duncan Macmillan’s hilarious emotional rollercoaster of a play about a couple wrestling with life’s biggest dilemmas live from The Old Vic.

Old Vic: In Camera is a new artistic initiative combining a run of socially distanced performances of LUNGS followed by a major series of rehearsed play-readings, all streamed live from the iconic Old Vic stage with the empty auditorium as a backdrop.

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.

We hope that you will join with us to support this new series and feel excited to be part of a live theatre community once again. We need your help in making sure that The Old Vic and our productions are still here to enjoy when our much-missed normal lives resume.

 

 

onsale is happening now and it looks like the que is long.  Im regretting waking up so early for this.

https://www.oldvictheatre.com/whats-on/2020/lungs-in-camera

Updated On: 6/10/20 at 07:09 AM

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 6/10/20 at 7:15am

Is anyone having luck with this? I tried at 7am on the dot but am over 4500 in the queue. My position hasn't changed in the last 15 minutes which I find improbable. 

[alexidarling15]

Posted: 6/10/20 at 7:16am

Yes, I'm #3000-something in line for one performance and am about to give up - they don't have as many tickets! I had tickets to see it at BAM in April and was hoping to at least catch it online! 

[cjmclaughlin10]

Posted: 6/10/20 at 7:22am

My spot hasn’t changed either still holding out hope though

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 6/10/20 at 7:24am

alexidarling15 said: "Yes, I'm #3000-something in line for one performance and am about to give up - they don't have as many tickets!I had tickets to see it at BAM in April and was hoping to at least catch it online!"

I'm in the same boat as you. I did just notice that on the website it says "Your queue number won't change, but as long as the person in the pink bar is moving you're on your way." My guy is slowing walking across so we'll see. Hopefully I won't have to get stuck with a matinee and watch it at 9am.

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 6/10/20 at 9:00am

Old Vic tweeted that the 10GBP tickets are sold out but they're still available at other price bands. I'm not even halfway across the bar yet.

https://twitter.com/oldvictheatre/status/1270695976932687875

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/10/20 at 9:10am

Never been so glad to have a membership to the Old Vic. Got my “ticket” yesterday and can’t wait to see this again. It’s worth waiting for.

[alexidarling15]

Posted: 6/10/20 at 10:13am

Has anyone gotten through? I walked away for three hours and now it says I'll be up in about 37 minutes. 

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 6/10/20 at 10:17am

alexidarling15 said: "Has anyone gotten through? I walked away for three hours and now it says I'll be up in about 37 minutes."

Been on since 7am and it's still telling me more than an hour. F*cking ridiculous to wait at least FOUR hours for this.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/10/20 at 10:56am

When tickets for 3000 Miles went on sale last year I was in the queue for about 7 hours before getting through. It can be an all day thing.

[alexidarling15]

Posted: 6/10/20 at 11:18am

I got through and bought a 40-pound ticket for July 3 - it was the cheapest ticket I could find for an 8 p.m. performance that was not on July 4. (I didn't check the matinees because the EST time wouldn't work for me). Once you get into the site, you can choose from any date. 

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 6/10/20 at 11:45am

Looks like the 20GBP tickets are sold out too. Going on hour 5 so supes fun! Hopefully the 30GBP ones are left by the time I get in. Don't mind seeing it on July 4 because what else are we doing.

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 6/10/20 at 12:33pm

Only took 5.5 hours but I finally got my ticket. Only 40GBP and up tickets left. I was 4856 in the queue so if you're much above that good luck.

[LightsOut90]

Posted: 6/10/20 at 2:35pm

waited about 4 hours....absurd lol

[VotePeron]

Posted: 6/27/20 at 7:24pm

Caught this today! Utter magic. How magnificent to see a live production on an actual stage (!) with actors at the top of their game performing wonderful material.

I’m sure this will become the norm over the next 9 months, and theaters will find a way to do it bigger and better (depending on what Equity allows), but Old Vic deserves so much credit for doing it first and with such class.

Would I have preferred to seeing it person, if I the chance? Of course. Will I continue to pay upwards of $100 for NYC/London virtual theater until March 2021? Probably not. But this was a great experience nonetheless. 

Updated On: 6/27/20 at 07:24 PM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/27/20 at 7:46pm

What was just as great as seeing this play again, was that they announced before the show that it was their "first" one of these. I love that they're going to continue. The UK is just knocking it out of the park as far as providing theatre to us. I keep hoping the Bridge Theatre will get Maggie Smith to come in and do her one woman show, "A German Life" as a fundraiser for them, because I'm sure that would bring in some serious cash. 

[ImaginaryManticore]

Posted: 6/28/20 at 7:56am

I saw this yesterday and it was compelling from start to finish. Even though the camera work was simple, with a camera on each actor in a split screen, it worked with the minimalist approach of everything else. All the play needed were the performances and the script. Theatre's always made limitations into strengths, so of course it can do so with social distancing.

I agree that this points the way forward for fundraisers at the moment. There must be so many plays that would work this way. And surely there are plenty of actors who would want to support theatre and have high enough profiles to sell virtual tickets.

[amaklo]

Posted: 6/29/20 at 8:51am

I bought a 'ticket' for last Friday, and stupidly missed the show because I can't count (got the time wrong). I emailed the Old Vic and asked if they could reschedule my viewing, and to my surprise they did.  I'm now scheduled to see it July 1st.  Just thought I'd post a thank you to the Old Vic for being so accommodating!  And I'm very much looking forward to seeing the show (again).

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 6/29/20 at 9:46am

Even though the purchasing process for this was a nightmare, I'm still very much excited to finally be able to see it.

On a related note, I watched The Last Five Years from The Other Palace over the week and really loved it. Neither performance was perfect but it showed the capabilities of the medium and worked perfectly for a socially distant show. I'm honestly shocked US theatre companies aren't "producing" this since it's only two people who are barely on stage together. To the surprise of no one, the UK is producing much higher quality theatre content in this new circumstance than the US (save for the Apple family plays).

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/29/20 at 9:56am

Yeah, for all the talk about saving theater here, I’m constantly shocked at how not much is being done about it. Even using last nights archive recording of “The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me” as an example - how many archive recordings of regional, off broadway, etc shows are just collecting dust that can be used as a fundraiser? These Zoom readings are starting to bore even the most theater-starved people I know, so they’re going to need to figure something out.

[ImaginaryManticore]

Posted: 6/29/20 at 6:47pm

I'm surprised we haven't seen more big experiments with the productions theatre people are putting out. I'd have thought it would be more adaptable than TV, where viewers tend to expect higher production values, but that's been producing new material. I guess the screen tech expertise is missing? And of course TV doesn't have to change its revenue model.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge has already used the NT Live version of Fleabag to raise money for charity, and she's said she's done with the role, but I bet a new live-streamed performance would sell so many tickets.

[LexiGirl]

Posted: 7/1/20 at 5:23pm

In case anyone is like me and didn’t get a ticket when they came out for sale, they released additional tickets for the last 3 performances. I just grabbed one for their last performance. They will close ticket sales 48 hours before the performance time though, so won’t be around much longer.

[mar6411]

Posted: 7/1/20 at 7:38pm

LexiGirl said: "In case anyone is like me and didn’tget a ticket when they came out for sale, they released additional tickets for the last 3 performances. I just grabbed one for their last performance. They will close ticket sales 48 hours before the performance time though, so won’t be around much longer."

Thank you!  So happy I was able to get a ticket.

 

[ggersten]

Posted: 7/1/20 at 10:51pm

I just got a ticket as well (30 pounds for Saturday evening). There was a 20 pounder for the matinee but that's a wee bit early with the time difference for me!

[alexidarling15]

Posted: 7/2/20 at 9:46am

I can't wait for this tomorrow. I just got the Zoom info and it says to log in 30 minutes early - does anything really happen during that preshow time?