How exactly does one decide to bring a child into this world - with the oceans, and the climate, and the, you know, everything else? Surely the kid's Eiffel Tower-sized carbon footprint is reason enough not to.
But what if baby grows up to solve the world's problems? Then again, what if baby grows up to be a mass murderer? Or what if...? And what if...? If...?
What begins as an odd question for a couple in line at Ikea soon becomes much more as they grapple with existence itself as a moral question, in
Duncan Macmillan's timely and startlingly funny Lungs.
Duncan Macmillan's plays include: People, Places And Things (National Theatre, Headlong, West End); 1984, co-adapted from
George Orwell's novel and co-directed with
Robert Icke (Headlong, Nottingham Playhouse,
Almeida Theatre, West End, UK & International tours); Every Brilliant Thing (Paines Plough, Pentabus Theatre,
Barrow Street Theatre, International tours); Lungs (
Studio Theatre Washington DC, Paines Plough &
Sheffield Theatres, various productions worldwide); 2071, co-written with Chris Rapley (Royal Court, Hamburg Schauspielhaus); Atmen (Schaubühne Berlin); The Forbidden Zone (Salzburg Festival, Schaubühne Berlin, Barbican); Reise Durch Die Nacht, adapted from Friederike Mayröcker, created with
Katie Mitchell and
Lyndsey Turner (Schauspielhaus Köln, Theatertreffen Berlin, Festival d'Avignon); Wunschloses Unglück, adapted from
Peter Handke (Burgtheater Vienna); and Monster (Royal Exchange).
The plays in Third Rail's season encompass a range of human experience viewed from shared and diverse perspectives, and tackle essential questions of our time. Lungs brings the global issue of climate change to an intimate level that many will recognize: two people trying to map out their lives while the uncertain future looms.
In discussing his writing process for Lungs,
Duncan Macmillan has said, "I think I was interested in the conversation and not how it was going to be staged." In fact, the play's stage directions have been called "radically minimalistic." Third Rail's audience will experience a production that rises to the challenge using immensely creative scenic, lighting, sound, and costume design, and provides a springboard for more conversations with an interactive lobby installation.
Questions of the monumental impact of procreation on the environment and in relationships, and of personal responsibility swirl throughout Lungs.
More information about Third Rail can be found at thirdrailrep.org.
Dates: Aug 4 - Aug 26, 2017, Thursday-Saturday at 7:30pm, Sunday at 2pm.
Location: CoHo Theatre, 2257 NW Raleigh Street, Portland, OR 97210 [Editors, please note venue for this Third Rail production.]
Tickets Available: By phone at
503-235-1101 or online at
thirdrailrep.org.
Prices: Single tickets $25 - $45 (plus online service fees). Admission included for Third Rail Members (monthly fee of $30.75)
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