The new play by the former Artistic Director of the Young Vic, David Lan, will be led by Olivier Award-winning actress Juliet Stevenson (The Doctor).
Artwork for The Land of the Living.
She will be joined by Game of Thrones actor Tom Wlaschiha, who plays Thomas in this timely new play that explores the shapeshifting nature of memory and morality.
Directed by Stephen Daldry (The Inheritance), the full cast for The Land of the Living includes Atilla Akinci, Kate Duchêne, Michael Fox, Hubert Hanowicz, Caroline Loncq, Avital Lvova, Michael Marcus, Anastasia Martin, Marek Oravec, Cosima Shaw and Sasha Syzoneko. Young performers Darcy Tosun, Artie Wilkinson-Hunt and Anton Vehring complete the cast.
Set in Germany in 1945 and later in London in 1990, The Land of the Living centers on Thomas—a child stolen during WWII—and Ruth, a UN relief worker whose choice to either reunite him with his birth parents or leave him with his foster family shapes both their lives. As Thomas revisits Ruth decades later, the play delves into the shifting nature of memory and morality, questioning whether Ruth’s decisions were right.
The creative team for the play's debut includes set designer Miriam Buether, costume designer Nicky Gillibrand, lighting designer James Farncombe, sound designer Gareth Fry, composer Paul Englishby, movement director Paul McGill, fight and intimacy director Maisie Carter, casting director Naomi Downham, dialect and language coach Victoria Woodward, voice coach Cathleen McCarron, associate director Jane Moriarty and staff director Júlia Levai.
The Land of the Living will play at the Dorfman Theatre from 9 September to 1 November 2025.
