Full cast and rehearsal photos released for THE LIVES OF OTHERS

Shehrazade Zafar-Arif 14 September, 2026, 16:43

The full cast has been revealed for Robert Icke’s stage adaptation of Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s The Lives of Others, with thirteen actors set to join Keira Knightley, Stephen Dillane, and Luke Thompson. The production has also shared a first look at the cast in rehearsals.

Keira Knightley in rehearsals for The Lives of Others. Photo provided by production

Jamie Ankrah, Jake Benson, Matt Ray Brown, Lucy Doyle, Calum Finlay, Josh Gordon, Paul Higgins, Leda Hodgson, Nick Holder, Sibylla Meienberg, Irfan Shamji, Richard Sutton and Andrew Woodal are set to complete the cast.

Based on the 2006 critically acclaimed German film, The Lives of Others is a psychological surveillance thriller set in East Berlin in 1984, during the height of the Cold War. Gerd Wiesler (Stephen Dillane) is a senior agent of the Stasi, the East German secret police, conducting surveillance on the residents of the city. But when he begins spying on playwright Georg Dreyman (Luke Thompson) and his girlfriend, actress Christa-Maria Sieland (Keira Knightley), he becomes disillusioned by the corrupt system in which he operates, and begins secretly protecting the pair, even hiding evidence of Dreyman's dissent against the state.

Produced by Sonia Friedman (Paddington the Musical, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) and Winkler & Smallberg, this brand-new stage play will be directed by Robert Icke (Romeo & Juliet, Oedipus), who collaborated with Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, the writer and director of the original film, to adapt it for the stage.

The film won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, as well as the BAFTA for Best Film Not in the English Language and awards from the European and German Film Awards, among others.
The production reunites Icke with producer Sonia Friedman following their work together on Oedipus, Manhunt, Hamlet, The Doctor, Oresteia and 1984.

The Lives of Others will play at the Adelphi Theatre from 14 October 2026 to 9 January 2027.