Lungs Duncan Macmillan Monologue __link__ May 2026

Lungs works because M is us—educated, anxious, loving, and frozen. The monologue isn’t about winning an argument. It’s about a man realizing that knowing better doesn’t mean doing better. If you can hold that contradiction in your voice and body, you’ll break an audience’s heart.

The monologue appears in Act One of Lungs (published by Oberon Books / Bloomsbury). Watch the Old Vic production with Claire Foy and Matt Smith for a masterclass in stillness and panic. lungs duncan macmillan monologue

In Lungs , M and W are a couple trying to decide whether to bring a child into an overheating, overpopulated, politically broken world. The monologue happens after W has pushed M to admit his fears. He spirals. This isn’t a villain’s speech or a hero’s declaration—it’s a panic attack wrapped in intellectual guilt. Lungs works because M is us—educated, anxious, loving,

The key to the monologue is this line: “I’m not a bad person.” If you can hold that contradiction in your

M genuinely believes he’s ethical. He recycles. He worries about carbon footprints. But he’s also selfish, terrified, and paralyzed by first-world problems. The monologue works when you let both truths exist at once: