Sonia Friedman Productions today announces the world premiere of the stage adaptation of Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s Academy Award-winning film The Lives of Others, adapted and directed by Robert Icke. Keira Knightley, Stephen Dillane and Luke Thompson lead the company, with the production opening at the Adelphi Theatre on 29 October, with previews from 14 October, and running until 9 January 2027.
Tickets are now on sale from £25, with over 36,000 seats available across the run at under £35 which is 25% of the seats available.
The production sees Icke and Friedman renew their creative partnership following their work on productions including Oedipus, Manhunt, Hamlet, The Doctor, Oresteia and 1984; and Knightley and Friedman, following their work together on The Children’s Hour.
Listening changes everything.
1984. East Germany. A writer and an actor are placed under state surveillance. From the attic above their apartment, their Stasi man listens for evidence of subversion. But to observe a life is to risk changing your own.
Starring Academy Award nominee Keira Knightley, Emmy Award winner Stephen Dillane and Olivier Award nominee Luke Thompson, The Lives of Others plays at the Adelphi Theatre for a strictly limited run.
Written and directed by Olivier Award-winner Robert Icke and based on the Oscar-winning 2007 film by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck , this electrifying adaptation explores artistic censorship, state surveillance and the relationship between art and politics.
Designed by Hildegard Bechtler, with lighting design by Jon Clark, sound design by Giles Thomas, and original music by the multi-award-winning composer Max Richter. Casting is by Julia Horan CDG.
Sonia Friedman commented, “I’ve been obsessed with The Lives of Others ever since I first saw it - Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s exquisite, haunting, and completely masterful film, and there is no one better than Robert Icke to bring this to life onstage. He has this rare ability to combine huge ideas with real emotional truth, and I know he and the company will find a way to realise it that feels both unexpected and completely thrilling.
“Set in East Berlin in 1984 - a world where nothing is private, every word carries consequence, and the state holds power not just over lives, but over thought, speech and imagination itself, this world premiere is a reminder of how fragile those freedoms are, and of the cost and courage required to hold on to them.
“What I love most about it is that it’s both epic and intimate - incredibly beautiful, sad, and deeply moving - and at its heart, it’s an unlikely story about kindness. A story about connection and compassion in the most unexpected places.
“To have a company led by Keira Knightley, Stephen Dillane and Luke Thompson at the Adelphi Theatre this autumn makes it all the more special. And in an extraordinary coup, we’re incredibly excited that Max Richter will be composing new music for the production. Max is one of the great composers of our time, and his work has a depth and emotional truth that has the potential to break our hearts.
“I really can’t wait to share it with audiences.”
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s The Lives of Others German language film was released in 2006. It won numerous awards including the Oscar for Best International Film, the BAFTA for Best Film Not in the English Language, the Caesar for Best Foreign Film, the Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film, the New York and LA Critics’ Circle Awards for Best Foreign Film, the British Independent Film Award for Best International Independent Film, and the European and German Film Awards for Best Film.
Full cast will be announced shortly.