Review: The Lives of Others, Adelphi Theatre

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT It feels a while since I saw a play in which the staging had the wow factor. Did the play of The Lives of Others based on the film have a similar impact? With this cast, Keira Knightley, Luke Thompson, Stephen Dillane, and director Robert Ike, I went in with very high expectations, and pleased to say that those expectations were definitely met. What I loved about the film is that it’s so tense. This is the story of covert surveillance of citizens. It’s set in East Berlin after the Second World War. A playwright and his actor girlfriend have had their apartment bugged. They’re being watched by the authorities to see if they’re enemies of the state. And there were times when I just wanted to shout at them, tell them not to speak because they are being watched and listened to in every aspect of their life. Stephen Dillane plays the surveillance operator. The way that his presence is added into the action – he’s supposed to be in a room off in the attic of the apartment…