Keira Knightley and Luke Thompson star in a new stage adaptation of the Oscar-winning 2006 film The Lives of Others, set in East Berlin in 1984. Knightley plays Christa-Maria, a theatre actor in a relationship with director Georg, played by Thompson. The Stasi officer Wiesler, played by Stephen Dillane, eavesdrops on the couple, his principles gradually challenged by the exposure to their cultured life.
Behind the scenes of the stage production
Rehearsals are under way in a north London town hall. Thompson, 38, known for Bridgerton, described the production as "quite a technical show," explaining: "Rather than different scenes, it's like one big set-piece with people coming in and passing batons. It's almost musical." Knightley, 41, laughed at the comparison, noting that director Robert Icke "hates dancing. He is not a man who dances."
The production features a revolving stage, allowing the audience to see Christa-Maria and Georg alongside their Stasi eavesdropper. Thompson believes this gives the stage version an advantage over the film: "Bringing a story about watching into the theatre is maybe even better, because the audience is literally peering in on what's happening. Whereas in a film, there's the barrier of the screen."
Surveillance themes and modern parallels
The play uses a new score by Max Richter during rehearsals, with Knightley confirming: "We are using it in rehearsal, yeah. It's very beautiful." Icke, known for his innovative staging, has previously used screens in his adaptation of Orwell's 1984 and CCTV in Hamlet. Thompson acknowledged that video "can feel gimmicky," but added: "It's relevant here because it's all about surveillance."
Knightley, who was among the first public figures to discover her phone messages were hacked by tabloids in 2006, drew on that experience. "I do have a personal experience of what that is. Then again, I knew that my phone was being hacked because I had something tangible to show for it. There were stories. Or for me, it was mostly pictures. I knew I was being followed and then I could see that I was being followed. I didn't feel like I was going mad. Whereas the characters are in a funny world where they don't know when or if they're being monitored."
The cast's reading list includes Anna Funder's Stasiland, her 2003 account of life in the GDR. Funder has called the film "superb" but also "a fantasy narrative that could not have taken place (and never did) under the GDR dictatorship." In 2007, she wrote that the film "doesn't accurately portray the way totalitarian systems work, because it needs to leave room for its hero to act humanely (something such systems are designed to prevent)."
Audience expectations and ticket prices
Thompson discussed the potential impact of the play's themes: "If what audiences take from the play is 'Communists are awful', then I'd feel like we'd failed." He trusts audiences to follow the no-phone rule, despite a phone ban failing to prevent leaked photos at a previous production. Knightley noted the "absolute fucking fury from everyone if somebody's phone goes off in the theatre."
Regarding standing ovations, Knightley suggested ticket prices might play a role: "I took my kids to see a musical recently and we really did enjoy it, but it cost so much that I was, like, 'We are going to love this!'" With tickets for The Lives of Others peaking at £225, she expects audiences to spring to their feet. Thompson countered: "In a strange way, though, the exchange that happens between actors and an audience during the clapping is the least important or interesting moment of it. If people see something good, it stays with them. Perhaps we've been missing that – and that's why people get so excited."
The Lives of Others runs at the Adelphi Theatre, London, from 14 October until 9 January.
