Muddy Stilettos

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="2000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Artie-Wilkinson-Hunt-Young-Thomas-and-Juliet-Stevenson-Ruth-in-The-Land-of-the-Living-at-the-National-Theatre.-c-Manuel-Harlan-083.jpg" alt="Juliet Stevenson as aid worker Ruth and Artie Wilkinson-Hunt as young Thomas in Land of the LIving National Theatre" class="wp-image-120286" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Artie-Wilkinson-Hunt-Young-Thomas-and-Juliet-Stevenson-Ruth-in-The-Land-of-the-Living-at-the-National-Theatre.-c-Manuel-Harlan-083.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Artie-Wilkinson-Hunt-Young-Thomas-and-Juliet-Stevenson-Ruth-in-The-Land-of-the-Living-at-the-National-Theatre.-c-Manuel-Harlan-083-450x600.jpg 450w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Artie-Wilkinson-Hunt-Young-Thomas-and-Juliet-Stevenson-Ruth-in-The-Land-of-the-Living-at-the-National-Theatre.-c-Manuel-Harlan-083-750x1000.jpg 750w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Artie-Wilkinson-Hunt-Young-Thomas-and-Juliet-Stevenson-Ruth-in-The-Land-of-the-Living-at-the-National-Theatre.-c-Manuel-Harlan-083-1152x1536.jpg 1152w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Image: Manuel Harlan. Juliet Stevenson as aid worker Ruth and Artie Wilkinson-Hunt as young Thomas</figcaption></figure>



With a nagging hangover and my bed calling from 50 miles away, I admit it wasn’t the best night for me to review <a href="https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/productions/the-land-of-the-living/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Land of the Living</a>, the National Theatre’s new production about stolen children in Nazi Germany &#8211; but hey, it turns out good theatre can take you somewhere even Nurofen can&#8217;t reach. Even at just under three hours long, this play by former Young Vic artistic director David Lan, his first in nearly 30 years, was moving and impactful &#8211; and also happened to usher in a new star.



The play is based on a series of interviews by the journalist Gitta Sereny, forming the historical heart to the fictional heart of the story. Ruth, a forthright, brusque British aid worker in Germany as the Second World War ends is working for an agency, the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, which is trying to re-home displaced children. 



The realisation slowly dawns upon Ruth and her colleagues that thousands of children in the town, have been measured and checked for ‘perfection’ with a series of tools by the Nazis, have been stolen from Poland, Ukraine and other neighbouring countries &#8211; their names changed, pasts erased, and adopted instead by German families to help boost the Aryan race. 



Ruth makes it her mission to reunite the children she finds with their real parents, but in doing so takes a young Polish boy Thomas (an extraordinary Artie Wilkinson-Hunt, a child actor a dead cert for stardom – you’ll see him in the forthcoming Masters of the Universe movie) from the adopted German ‘mother’ he loves and into her own temporary care, changing the course of his life forever. 



Forty years later, now a successful concert pianist, Thomas (an excellent Tom Wlaschiha) turns up at Ruth’s London flat demanding answers to that fateful moment, as the play wrestles with themes of love, loss, morality and memory, and the unforeseen consequences of &#8216;good&#8217; decisions.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1125" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Sasha-Syzonenko-Hubert-Hanowicz-Avital-Lvova-and-Tom-Wlaschiha-Thomas-in-The-Land-of-the-Living-at-the-National-Theatre.-c-Manuel-Harlan-113.jpg" alt="Sasha Syzonenko, Hubert Hanowicz, Avital Lvova and Tom Wlaschiha (Thomas) in Land of LIving National Theatre " class="wp-image-120288" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Sasha-Syzonenko-Hubert-Hanowicz-Avital-Lvova-and-Tom-Wlaschiha-Thomas-in-The-Land-of-the-Living-at-the-National-Theatre.-c-Manuel-Harlan-113.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Sasha-Syzonenko-Hubert-Hanowicz-Avital-Lvova-and-Tom-Wlaschiha-Thomas-in-The-Land-of-the-Living-at-the-National-Theatre.-c-Manuel-Harlan-113-600x450.jpg 600w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Sasha-Syzonenko-Hubert-Hanowicz-Avital-Lvova-and-Tom-Wlaschiha-Thomas-in-The-Land-of-the-Living-at-the-National-Theatre.-c-Manuel-Harlan-113-1000x750.jpg 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Image: Manuel Harlan. Sasha Syzonenko, Hubert Hanowicz, Avital Lvova and Tom Wlaschiha (Thomas)</figcaption></figure>



<a href="https://muddystilettos.co.uk/things-to-do/arts-culture-things-to-do/tom-wlaschiha-interview-national-theatre/">Wlaschiha</a>, best known for his roles in Game of Thrones and Stranger Things (<a href="https://muddystilettos.co.uk/things-to-do/arts-culture-things-to-do/tom-wlaschiha-interview-national-theatre/">read our interview</a>) makes the most of a role largely based on stillness and watching his younger self. I found myself wanting to know more of him than his lines allowed, but when he had the ammunition – “&#8221;I&#8217;m just some Kraut kid you pulled up by the roots and found not to your taste, so you threw him back”, he throws out bitterly – he commands the stage. 



Juliet Stephenson is in her element as the brisk, self-assured Ruth, almost always on stage and skilfully sliding between an older cardiganed self in an armchair and her younger, vibrant incarnation as aid worker via a simple change of coat, a lightening of voice or a flirtatious twinkle. 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1125" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Juliet-Stevenson-Ruth-Atilla-Akinci-Ensemble-Michael-Fox-George-and-Hubert-Hanowicz-Ensemble-in-The-Land-of-the-Living-at-the-National-Theatre.-c-Manuel-Harlan-073.jpg" alt="Juliet Stevenson (Ruth), Atilla Akinci (Ensemble), Michael Fox (George) and Hubert Hanowic in Land of the Living National Theatre" class="wp-image-120291" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Juliet-Stevenson-Ruth-Atilla-Akinci-Ensemble-Michael-Fox-George-and-Hubert-Hanowicz-Ensemble-in-The-Land-of-the-Living-at-the-National-Theatre.-c-Manuel-Harlan-073.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Juliet-Stevenson-Ruth-Atilla-Akinci-Ensemble-Michael-Fox-George-and-Hubert-Hanowicz-Ensemble-in-The-Land-of-the-Living-at-the-National-Theatre.-c-Manuel-Harlan-073-600x450.jpg 600w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Juliet-Stevenson-Ruth-Atilla-Akinci-Ensemble-Michael-Fox-George-and-Hubert-Hanowicz-Ensemble-in-The-Land-of-the-Living-at-the-National-Theatre.-c-Manuel-Harlan-073-1000x750.jpg 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Image: Manuel Harlan. Juliet Stevenson (Ruth), Atilla Akinci (Ensemble), Michael Fox (George) and Hubert Hanowic</figcaption></figure>



German actor <a href="https://muddystilettos.co.uk/things-to-do/arts-culture-things-to-do/tom-wlaschiha-interview-national-theatre/">Tom Wlaschiha</a>, known best for his roles in Game of Thrones and Stranger Things (<a href="https://muddystilettos.co.uk/things-to-do/arts-culture-things-to-do/tom-wlaschiha-interview-national-theatre/">read our interview</a>) as the adults Thomas, makes the most of a role largely based on stillness and watching his younger self. I found myself wanting to know more of him than his lines allowed, but when he had the ammunition – &#8220;I&#8217;m just some Kraut kid you pulled up by the roots and found not to your taste, so you threw him back”, he says bitterly – he commands the stage. Full marks too, incidentally, for playing the piano each night too, without destroying tough-to-play snippets of Rachmaninov and Bach.



Stephen Daldry directs, so perhaps no surprise that there’s definitely a sense of the cinematic here, with the intimate Dorfman Theatre feeling almost like a movie set; designed by Miriam Buether, there’s seating across three sides of a long stage, with a library and upright wooden piano one end in the past, a modern kitchen the other as the present and the gap between where the past and present slip and slide, the strong ensemble cast of actors sometimes not even confined to the stage but running amongst the audience. 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Land-of-the-Living-rehearsals.jpg" alt="The Land of the Living rehearsals shot" class="wp-image-119448" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Land-of-the-Living-rehearsals.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Land-of-the-Living-rehearsals-600x400.jpg 600w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Land-of-the-Living-rehearsals-1000x667.jpg 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Stephen Daldry (Director) and Juliet Stevenson (Ruth) in rehearsals for The Land of the Living | Marc Brenner</figcaption></figure>



Impressive set pieces such as the train journey to get the children out of Germany and the dignified locals reuniting with their children (never seen, only heard in this play) are particularly powerful, as is the moment when young Thomas is ripped from his adopted mother, a torrent of panic, rage, fear, confusion, and loss with Artie Wilkinson-Hunt acting his socks off.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1125" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Cosima-Shaw-Thomas-Mother-Hubert-Hanowicz-Ensemble-and-Artie-Wilkinson-Hunt-Young-Thomas-in-The-Land-of-the-Living-at-the-National-Theatre.-c-Manuel-Harlan-001.jpg" alt="Cosima Shaw (Thomas' Mother), Hubert Hanowicz (Ensemble) and Artie Wilkinson-Hunt (Young Thomas) in The Land of the LIving National Theatre" class="wp-image-120289" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Cosima-Shaw-Thomas-Mother-Hubert-Hanowicz-Ensemble-and-Artie-Wilkinson-Hunt-Young-Thomas-in-The-Land-of-the-Living-at-the-National-Theatre.-c-Manuel-Harlan-001.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Cosima-Shaw-Thomas-Mother-Hubert-Hanowicz-Ensemble-and-Artie-Wilkinson-Hunt-Young-Thomas-in-The-Land-of-the-Living-at-the-National-Theatre.-c-Manuel-Harlan-001-600x450.jpg 600w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Cosima-Shaw-Thomas-Mother-Hubert-Hanowicz-Ensemble-and-Artie-Wilkinson-Hunt-Young-Thomas-in-The-Land-of-the-Living-at-the-National-Theatre.-c-Manuel-Harlan-001-1000x750.jpg 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Image: Manuel Harlan. Cosima Shaw (Thomas&#8217; Mother), Hubert Hanowicz (Ensemble) and Artie Wilkinson-Hunt (Young Thomas)</figcaption></figure>



There are moments when the play gets stuck in the slow lane, particularly early on when Thomas first meets Ruth in her flat and there’s a laboured reprise of her asking him to sit down or eat something, and the play can’t quite dodge an element of caricature in places – the gobby US soldier, stiff-upper-lipped Brits, the froideur of the German aristocrats. But don’t let that stop you going. This is inventive, thoughtful theatre that remembers the past and also quietly holds a mirror up to the current madness of our modern conflicts. 



The Land of the Living is at the Dorfman at the National Theatre, London SE1 9PX, until Sat 1 Nov 2025. Tickets £20-£70. <a href="https://tickets.nationaltheatre.org.uk/92634/92830?queueittoken=e_fridayrush26sept25~q_00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000~ts_1759054437~ce_true~rt_afterevent~h_dc7b458182cb8dccfe6845c209700205c3e576c387b4187201a6fad3e54cf25f#_gl=1*18oab9d*_gcl_au*MTAyMTQzOTc5NC4xNzU3MjI5Njg4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Book tickets.</a>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-in-the-mood-for-more">IN THE MOOD FOR MORE?</h2>



<ul>
<li><a href="https://muddystilettos.co.uk/things-to-do/arts-culture-things-to-do/best-new-theatre-shows/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Curtain up: The best new theatre shows to see this October</a> </li>



<li><a href="https://muddystilettos.co.uk/things-to-do/arts-culture-things-to-do/review-till-the-stars-come-down-theatre-royal-haymarket-london/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Review: Till The Stars Come Down at Theatre Royal Haymarket, London</a></li>



<li><a href="https://muddystilettos.co.uk/things-to-do/arts-culture-things-to-do/review-titanique-criterion-theatre-piccadilly-london/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Review: Titaníque at The Criterion Theatre, Piccadilly, London</a></li>
</ul>

Review: ‘The Land of the Living’, National Theatre, London

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