The Lives of Others reviews: what the critics say about Keira Knightley

The reviews are in for The Lives of Others at the Adelphi Theatre, and the critics are split. Robert Icke's world premiere stage version of the Oscar winning film stars Keira Knightley, Luke Thompson and Stephen Dillane, and it plays until 9 January 2027. See dates and tickets for The Lives of Others at the Adelphi Theatre.

In this article: The Lives of Others, Keira Knightley, Luke Thompson, Stephen Dillane, Robert Icke, Adelphi Theatre, Hildegard Bechtler, Andrew Woodall, review roundup, West End.

The production officially opened on Thursday 29 October, and you can read more about the opening and the cast in our opening report. Notices followed on 1 and 2 November.

The star ratings at a glance

• The Standard, Nick Curtis: ★★★★★
• The Arts Desk, Helen Hawkins: ★★★

The Telegraph, the Guardian, The Stage and Theatre Weekly also reviewed the show. We have not listed star ratings for them because none was shown on the pages we checked.

The raves

Nick Curtis gave the production five stars in The Standard, calling it Icke's "magnificent adaptation" and saying of Dillane that "it’s impossible to take your eyes off" him. He also praised "Andrew Woodall, chilling" as the minister Hempf.

Greg Stewart of Theatre Weekly went further, writing that it "may just be the most exciting new play to arrive in the West End this year" and calling it "a truly unmissable piece of theatre".

Keira Knightley returns to the stage

This is Knightley's first London stage role in 15 years, and most critics were pleased to see her. In The Telegraph, Dominic Cavendish wrote that "you can’t take your eyes off her", while Curtis said she plays a devastating scene "with wrenching conviction". Stewart called it "a devastatingly moving performance".

Not everyone was won over by the role itself. Arifa Akbar in the Guardian wrote: "She gives a committed performance, but the character feels overheated and underwritten." Cavendish wanted more for her to do, though he still found it "heartening to see her on stage again".

Stephen Dillane and Luke Thompson

Dillane, as the Stasi officer Gerd Wiesler, drew some of the strongest notices. Cavendish felt that "the evening belongs to Stephen Dillane", and Stewart described his turn as "a masterclass in restraint".

Opinion on Thompson was more varied. Cavendish called him "eminently watchable", and Curtis praised him for "heroically fleshing out a role somewhat lacking in colour". Akbar, though, felt he "seems too puppyish in the role".

The staging and design

Nearly every critic singled out Hildegard Bechtler's revolving set. Helen Hawkins of The Arts Desk opened her review with "Splendidly designed by Hildegard Bechtler", and Cavendish described "an astounding coup de théâtre when the set is pulled apart". Even Akbar, the most doubtful of the critics, wrote: "Where the production excels is in raising suspense through stagecraft".

The reservations were about the writing more than the look of the show. Hawkins found "too many ideas onstage here for comfort", while The Stage headlined Dave Fargnoli's review "Compelling study of paranoia" and summed the show up as "Slickly staged but emotionally subdued".

What the critics agree on

Taken together, the reviews describe a striking, handsomely designed evening with a powerful central performance from Dillane and a welcome stage return for Knightley. The critics differ on how well the story survives the move from screen to stage, but very few found it dull.

Booking The Lives of Others

The Lives of Others plays at the Adelphi Theatre on the Strand until 9 January 2027. The nearest stations are Charing Cross and Embankment. See The Lives of Others dates and tickets.