Matt Smith and Claire Foy are to reunite for a new socially-distanced performance of Lungs in an effort to save The Old Vic.

The historic London theatre, based in Waterloo, is thought to have just a few months to survive after its business was effectively wiped out by the coronavirus shutdown.

Having appeared together in the first two seasons of The Crown, Smith and Foy went on to star together last year in a sold-out run of Lungs - a play about a couple grappling with climate change - at The Old Vic.

The new show will be live-streamed to audiences and will be capped at 1,000 people to match the capacity of the theatre.

Tickets will be available priced from £10 to £65 - the same pricing structure as regular performances - although all viewers will have the same view from a fixed-camera setup.

In a statement, The Old Vic said: "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."

The Old Vic has yet to confirm when tickets will go on sale or the exact dates of the performances, which are thought to be in June.