To listen closely to another person is to be changed by them. That idea drives The Lives of Others, Robert Icke’s charged new stage version of Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s Oscar-winning film, which brings Academy Award nominee Keira Knightley back to the West End at the Adelphi Theatre for a strictly limited run from 14 October 2026. She is joined by Emmy winner Stephen Dillane and Olivier nominee Luke Thompson.
The story unfolds in East Germany in 1984, where a celebrated playwright and the actor he loves fall under the watchful eye of the state. From a concealed vantage point above their home, a Stasi officer records their every word in search of dissent, yet the longer he eavesdrops, the more the lives he is monitoring begin to reshape his own.
Knightley takes the role of actor Christa-Maria Sieland, with Dillane as the surveillance officer Gerd Wiesler and Thompson as the writer Georg Dreyman. Adapted and directed by Olivier Award winner Robert Icke, with original music by Max Richter, this is a taut new staging of one of the most gripping political thrillers of recent cinema. Book your tickets now.
Why it’s worth the watch
A landmark screen thriller reborn for the stage by one of British theatre’s most daring directors.
- A stellar cast. Keira Knightley, Stephen Dillane and Luke Thompson lead this tense East German drama.
- Robert Icke at the controls. The Olivier-winning adaptor and director is celebrated for reinventing classic and modern stories.
- From an Oscar winner. It is drawn from Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s Academy Award-winning film about Stasi surveillance.
- A score by Max Richter. The acclaimed composer provides original music for this gripping political thriller.
