The production photographs for The Lives of Others are out, giving the first proper look at Keira Knightley, Luke Thompson and Stephen Dillane in Robert Icke's stage version of the film at the Adelphi Theatre.
The pictures, taken by Manuel Harlan and Pamela Raith, were released as the first reviews of The Lives of Others appeared, and they show a production built around the act of listening. Icke adapts and directs Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's 2006 German film, in a world premiere that reunites him with producer Sonia Friedman.
The image most likely to travel is of Stephen Dillane as the Stasi officer Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler, crouched beside a desk and typewriter with a pair of headphones pressed to his ears. Keira Knightley, who plays the celebrated stage actress Christa-Maria Sieland, is caught alone on a sofa, and again with her arms around Luke Thompson's playwright Georg Dreyman. A fourth frame finds Thompson at the piano with a volume of Bach open in front of him.
The story is set in East Germany in 1984, where a writer and the actress he lives with are put under state surveillance, and the man assigned to monitor their flat finds the work changing him as much as it exposes them. Hildegard Bechtler designs the set and costumes, with lighting by Jon Clark, sound by Giles Thomas, video by Tal Yarden and original music by Max Richter.
The supporting company, announced in September, includes Andrew Woodall as the culture minister Hempf, Paul Higgins as Wiesler's superior Grubitz, Nick Holder as the blacklisted director Jerska and Calum Finlay as the journalist Hauser. Our report on the full casting has the rest of the line-up.
The production began previews on 14 October and runs for 2 hours 10 minutes with no interval. The Lives of Others is booking at the Adelphi Theatre until Saturday 9 January 2027.
