THE TRAJECTORY OF love, life and doing it all in the same order that your parents did, is never as clean cut as you might want it to be. The messiness of complexity is what makes us human. But it is the expansion and contraction of time that makes it all sing. Bring tissues to Bianca Amato’s production of Lungs at the Upstairs Theatre in Montecasino, onstage until 30 November.

Featuring Jazzara Jaslyn opposite Sanda Shandu, the work is about a couple. They know each other well and have been together for a while. They’re young enough to be savvy of all that is woke and PC in our times, but old enough to be uncertain as to which way is The Right Way – what is destroying the planet? What is the flavour of the month in terms of politics? Or milk? How can they minimise their carbon footprint to nought, but still live life with their creature comforts? They are never-ending conundra, appropriate to their generation.

And then, comes the question of a baby. It is answered as the play transpires in several different ways, that are about life, the universe and everything, rather than being about The Right Thing to Do at this time in a relationship, or worse still, What Your Parents Expect of You. The play takes this couple right through the trajectory of life in a way that you will find relatable and accessible, whatever your age.

But what makes this work distinguish itself from others is the crisp and succinctness of language usage. Evocative of a work named Pregnant Pause, created by Charmaine Weir-Smith and Sylvaine Strike in 2008, Lungs is written with an astute and acerbic hand that allows all the interstices of indecision, love, abandonment, loss, happiness and despair to be meaningfully reflected with few words and careful nuances.

While the set is icy in tone, and the title of the work feels obscure in relation to the meat and substance of the play, it is the staging and the direction that hold this work and your focus, from beginning to end, enabling the minutes to wait for an over-the-counter pregnancy test to reveal an answer, to slide into seemingly stressful hours, as it plays quickly through the passage of time, to its sense of closure.

It’s a beautiful play and a sound theatrical achievement.  

Lungs is written by Duncan MacMillan and directed by Bianca Amato. Performed by Jazzara Jaslyn and Sanda Shandu, it features design by Patrick Curtis (set), Denis Hutchinson (lighting) and Neil Kuny (sound), is co-produced by Charlotte Butler and Bianca Amato and stage managed by Cassy Sewbaran. It is onstage at the Upstairs Theatre, Montecasino in Fourways until 30 November 2025.