The Land of the Living at a new Dorfman Theatre
- GutBer English
- 12 hours ago
- 4 min read
‘All my life – all your life – I’ve struggled with this: was what I did “wrong”?’
Last month we were able to visit the Dorfman Theatre for the first time, one of the National Theatre venues on London's Southbank, following its recent reopening after a temporary closure for maintenance. We were going to see David Lan's new play, The Land of the Living, starring Juliet Stevenson and Tom Wlaschiha, whom we remember as the Many-Faced God from Game of Thrones.
Having just returned from the beautiful city of Bath on the train and after a snack at The Understudy, one of the theater's bars with a huge terrace full of tables and benches right on the River Thames, we tried to get in only to discover there was a problem with our tickets, which we'd bought online months earlier. We'd purchased them as soon as they went on sale, before the final stage design was complete. Once the stage was finished, our seats had become "restricted view," so we were offered seats equivalent to what we thought we'd bought. That's how we ended up in the front row, practically in the middle of the action.
We are seating next to the kitchen of a house that, through a long hallway (the stage where all the action takes place), leads us to the other end of the theater, where the hallway becomes the living room, dominated by a bookcase and a piano. Thus, with back-and-forth movements along the house and simple costume changes (a change of jacket is enough), we are taken from the present to the past and back again with continuous flashbacks that explain the current conflict.
Thomas (Tom Wlaschiha) was a child during World War II in the care of Ruth (Juliet Stevenson), a member of the United Nations. Now, as an adult, he has come to visit her to try to understand who he really is. Based on true events, the play reveals how the Nazi network located non-German children of Aryan appearance to take them from their families and train them within the system. Thomas thus discovers his true identity and the shared tragedy of thousands of children and families in the same circumstances, as well as that of the United Nations members who lived through it.
Although critics have labeled it too long—almost three hours with a 20-minute interval—and it may still work if it was shortened a bit, it's also true that this length allows the story to be clearly portrayed as are the emotions it seeks to convey. Tender, revealing, cruel, and harsh, the relentless action takes us to the different locations and times without a single scene change. We are in the trenches, in UN refugee centers, in the homes of impoverished Polish families and those of wealthy Germans, in Ruth's living room in the present day… simply with a change of pace, lighting, or clothing. Different languages and accents are spoken without hindering the narrative in the slightest.
A large and diverse cast presents all these characters at different stages of their lives, including the brilliant child actor who plays young Thomas, while his adult self observes his life from a corner, trying to understand what Ruth is trying to explain to him, while she deals with her own internal conflicts and questions her own decision: was what I did "wrong"?.
Without dazzling special effects, but with spectacular results, Juliet Stevenson offers us a tour de force of a play that unfolds before our eyes, immersing us in the real lives of people in extreme situations and their individual and collective drama, which feels more relevant than ever. Relatable and moving, the play highlights the desperate situation of those who lose their identity in armed conflicts and involuntary displacements, as well as the wounds these leave on the souls of those who suffer them. A profoundly human vision of a drama from which no one emerges unscathed, and one that stays with us on our journey home, where the chill from storm Amy, which swept across the UK this weekend, served to make us feel even more acutely the tragedy we had just shared and that should never happen again.
The Land of the Living can be seen at the Dorfman Theatre, part of the National Theatre, in London until November 1st, from £10. We saw it on October 4th, 2025, at the evening performance.
The Land of the Living puede verse en el Dorfman Theatre, parte del National Theatre, en Londres hasta el 1 de noviembre desde 10 libras. Nosotros la vimos el 4 de octubre de 2025 en la sesión de noche.
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