Full Cast Set For David Lan's THE LAND OF THE LIVING as Rehearsals Begin at the National Theatre

The National Theatre has announced full casting for The Land of the Living - a new play by former Artistic Director of the Young Vic, David Lan - as rehearsals begin on the South Bank. Olivier Award-winner Juliet Stevenson (The Doctor) and Tom Wlaschiha (Game of Thrones) will play Ruth and Thomas in this timely new play that is immersed in the shapeshifting nature of memory and morality. Directed by Stephen Daldry (The Inheritance), The Land of the Living will run in the Dorfman theatre from 9 September to 1 November 2025 as part of former National Theatre Director Rufus Norris' final season.

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.

Writer David Lan and director Stephen Daldry are joined on the creative team by set designer Miriam Buether, Costume Designer Nicky Gillibrand, lighting designer James Farncombe, sound designer Gareth Fry, composer Paul Englishby, movement director Paul McGill, fight and intimacy director Maisie Carter, casting director Naomi Downham, dialect and language coach Victoria Woodward, voice coach Cathleen McCarron, associate director Jane Moriarty and staff director Júlia Levai. 

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 Land of the Living will play in the Dorfman theatre from 9 September to 1 November, with a press night on Thursday 18 September.