Albion Theatre’s “Lungs” takes a deep, unfiltered, captivating breath of anxious air

The renowned English playwright Duncan Macmillan’s play “Lungs” is a masterful, engaging, thought-provoking and altogether fulfilling experience, especially as directed by Ellie Schwetye in this Albion Theatre production at the Kranzberg Black Box Theatre. If you don’t know Albion Theatre, they find and stage plays from the United Kingdom – and St. Louis is the better for their efforts.

“Lungs” examines the way the outer world can mirror an inner reality through the decades-long relationship of two characters, W and M, as they laugh, love, leave and ponder their carbon footprint on both the Earth and their own lives – together and apart. MacMillan’s clever script complicates universal concerns of relationships with “bigger” issues related to the impacts of humans – from M and W to the rest of 8 billion people who inhabit this Big Blue Marble. “Lungs” premiered in 2001 and the issues it explores may not be exactly prescient, but they are still highly – and unfortunately – relevant and relatable.  

Playwright MacMillan believes the best drama involves “…watching a character make a decision. The thematic, the intellectual, they’re all secondary to seeing a recognisable (sic) character wrestling with something really difficult.” Director Schwetye definitely delivers that ideal by wringing out the best of the talents of Nicole Angeli as W and Joel Moses as M. The result is an excellent theater experience – the kind that defines what live a live performance can achieve like no other form entertainment – all in an intimate, black box theater.

These characters begin the play by debating whether to have a child in relation to its carbon footprint of 10,00 tons of CO₂ before its first breath. The play very soon becomes less intellectual about the climate crises and more about how M and W weather the emotional impacts they make on each other. Schwetye clearly understands that this balance requires acting of rare abilities and that’s what she exacts from Moses and Angeli, who deliver exceptional, powerful performances. Their talents create two characters whose relationship brims with relatable experiences, emotions, humor and flaws.

Like their characters, Angeli and Moses are well-matched and well-cast to navigate their characters’ stormy – as well as sunny and funny – lives. This is commendable considering they must conjure the play’s settings – from a dance club to a bedroom cuddle – on a nearly bare stage and solely by their nuanced words and gestures. To call the set design minimal is not to minimize the effects created by set design and technical director Erik Kuhn. The two opposing ramps upon which the actors ascend and descend throughout the play serve as visual metaphors for the rise and fall of both the action and the emotional state of M and W. The ramps are simple and almost inconspicuous, yet serve a subtle-yet-powerful role supporting the movements and emotions of the actors. 

Proof of this production’s success occurs in the play’s climax. “Lungs” ends with an epiphany that can only work when the actors have created characters that have believably undergone something difficult. This ending hits its mark, revealing the complexity and unpredictability of human emotion, where revelations are deeply tied to the heart's winding journey.

While avoiding a spoiler, the final monologue would be worth the price of the ticket and time alone. Standing alone, the character delivers the monologue as an ambiguous, heartrending address to the impersonal Earth and the private, personal journey of M and W.

Albion Theatre’s “Lungs” runs through November 3 at the Kranzberg Black Box Theatre Visit the website for more information.