Juliet Stevenson and Tom Wlaschiha will lead the cast in The Land of the Living, a new production coming to the National Theatre this autumn.
Stevenson and Wlaschiha will play Ruth and Thomas in David Lan’s play about the shapeshifting nature of memory and morality, which is now in rehearsals on the South Bank.
Directed by Stephen Daldry (The Inheritance), the full cast includes Atilla Akinci, Kate Duchêne, Michael Fox, Hubert Hanowicz, Caroline Loncq, Avital Lvova, Michael Marcus, Anastasia Martin, Marek Oravec, Cosima Shaw and Sasha Syzoneko. Young performers Darcy Tosun, Artie Wilkinson-Hunt and Anton Vehring complete the cast.
Germany, 1945. Thomas, one of thousands of children stolen by the Nazis from Eastern Europe during WWII, is under the care of Ruth, a UN relief worker. Should she try to find his parents or leave him with those he’s grown up with? The choice she makes will shape his life. Years later, Thomas visits Ruth. As they untangle the past, the decisions Ruth made as a very young woman are called powerfully into question.
The creative team features set designer Miriam Buether, costume designer Nicky Gillibrand, lighting designer James Farncombe, sound designer Gareth Fry, composer Paul Englishby, movement director Paul McGill, fight & intimacy director Maisie Carter, casting director Naomi Downham, dialect & language coach Victoria Woodward, voice coach Cathleen McCarron, associate director Jane Moriarty and staff director Júlia Levai.
The Land of the Living will run in the National’s Dorfman Theatre from September 9 to November 1, 2025. Tickets here.
Top image: The Land of the Living. Photography (Juliet Stevenson) by Felicity McCabe. Art direction and design by Émilie Chen and National Theatre Graphic Design Studio (image supplied)