The Lives of Others review: Keira Knightley, Stephen Dillane and Luke Thompson make compelling viewing in this surveillance thriller
Published on 2 November 2026
“The words are the recipe, and the director is the chef" Georg Dreyman (Luke Thompson) claims. In that case, Robert Icke is due a Michelin star.
Icke has whipped up a treat for the west end, adapting Henckel von Donnersmarck’s Oscar winning German-language film, into a pacy and passionate stage thriller.
Set in East Germany in 1984, The Lives of Others explores a society where privacy is a luxury and overheard confessions can have devastating consequences. Writer Georg Dreyman (Luke Thompson) and his girlfriend, celebrated stage actress Christa-Maria Sieland (Keira Knightley), find themselves under the watchful eye of the Stasi. Their every conversation is monitored by state officer Gerd Wiesler (Stephen Dillane), whose professional detachment begins to falter when he discovers the real reason for the Partei's interest in the playwright and his partner. With his superior, Grubitz (Paul Higgins), keeping a close eye on proceedings, the consequences of stepping out of line are never far away.
Knightley, Dillane, Thompson and Higgins are the star ingredients in Icke’s tightly assembled, and magnificently crafted, serving.
Returning to the London stage after 15 years (in The Children’s Hour, also produced by Sonia Friedman), Knightley’s performance was worth the wait. The two-time Oscar nominee is inspired casting as the ethereal Sieland, whose captivating presence at Dreyman’s party conceals a vulnerable and conflicted woman out of the spotlight.
Thompson is equally convincing as piano playing playwright Dreyman. Initially naive to the circumstances he finds himself, and his friends in, Dreyman soon finds the reality of his situation becomes impossible to ignore. Soon, his restraint at the beginning gives way to anger and defiance. Thompson navigates the shift with impressive conviction, bringing an increasingly fiery intensity to a character whose political awakening comes at considerable personal cost.
Dillane gives a remarkable account of a man caught between the rigid demands of his profession and an emerging conscience. There are unexpected flashes of humour, too, as Wiesler attempts to conceal his growing sympathies, while a particularly affecting scene sees him visibly moved by Dreyman's piano playing. Higgins, meanwhile, provides a suitably formidable presence as Grubitz, whose unwavering loyalty to the system makes him a constant threat.
It’s not just a four person play, however. An expansive ensemble regularly swarms the stage, transforming Dreyman’s home into an extension of the Stasi surveillance machine. Microphones are planted, cameras installed and furniture turned upside down as the authorities infiltrate every corner of the couple’s private lives. Tal Yarden’s video design incorporates live feeds of the monitoring operation, allowing us to see the surveillance unfold alongside the action itself. These feeds, unlike some recent productions, are used sparingly and effectively, enhancing the tension rather than distracting from it.
Hildegard Bechtler’s impressive set design is another valuable ingredient. A bedroom occupies a substantial portion of the stage, its gauze wall (surrounded by three solid ones) offers the audience a view inside. We become voyeurs ourselves, peering into the most intimate corners of the characters’ lives. The effect is particularly striking when the gauze suddenly becomes impenetrable as Wiesler removes his headphones, cutting off our view just as his connection to the room is interrupted. For a moment, we are denied access to the people we have been watching, made acutely aware of our own position as outsiders looking in. It is an ingenious touch that places us uncomfortably close to the very surveillance we are watching unfold.
The production is not without its lighter moments, offering flashes of dry humour amid the mounting tension. But there are also scenes that make for uncomfortable viewing, particularly Sieland’s encounters with the powerful Minister Hempf (Andrew Woodall). The contrast between these moments and the occasional levity gives the drama room to breathe without diminishing its darker subject matter.
“Ready to listen?” Gerd Wiesler addresses the audience at the opening of the show. We are, and we hang on to every word in the two hours that follow.
Fittingly for a surveillance drama, this is a must watch.
The Lives of Others plays at the Adelphi Theatre until 9 January 2027.
