The Lives of Others: Keira Knightley stars in gripping adaptation

The Lives of Others | Adelphi Theatre | ★★★★☆ With a flourish typical of maverick theatre director Robert Icke, The Lives of Others begins with the theatre lights still blazing. A Stasi officer marches onto the stage and directly addresses the audience. “We are under attack at all times,” he muses as an interrogation takes place behind him. He reveals some of the methods used when interviewing those suspected of subversion: keep them awake, force them to repeat their story – the guilty will repeat the same words over and over again, while the innocent are more likely to deviate. We have ways of making you talk… It’s a slick way of placing the audience in the position of collaborator, sitting alongside the protagonist as he spies on the men and women of East Germany. We follow Gerd Wiesler, a true believer in the Communist cause, albeit one whose career has faltered. “You don’t even sleep with your students,” quips his superior, who was once his inferior. He’s played with a wistfu