The Lives of Others is not fit for the stage
From our UK edition
The Lives of Others is a peculiar play about obsession and voyeurism based on a 2006 movie set in east Berlin during the Cold War. A Stasi snoop eavesdrops on a pair of glamorous thesps whose love affair is imperilled by disloyalty to the state and to each other. Keira Knightley plays Christa, a hysterical and insecure actress, who dates a state-approved dramatist, Georg, in order to advance her career. Christa also seduces Hempf, the minister of culture, for the same reason. But why entertain two lovers who offer the same benefit? Christa’s flat is bugged by a team of trenchcoated weirdos who get their kicks by listening to ‘vigorous active intimacy’ in her bedroom. The emotional mood of the piece is ugly and cheerless.
