John Le Carre’s original novel The Spy Who Came In From The Cold was first published in 1963 and was his third novel, the plot very much triggered by the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961. Alec Leamas works for The Circus, a British intelligence organisation who are running spies between the West and the communist East. The Cold War issues are very dominant in the story. Leamas is trying to get his last agent out of East Berlin but as he makes his escape across No Man’s Land he is shot by the German counterintelligence officer Mundt.
Back in the UK Leamas is keen to retire from service but the head of The Circus, a man known merely as Control has one last job for him which will silence Mundt forever. In order to do so, Leamus must appear to be out of The Circus and must also leave behind the young woman Liz Gold with whom he has become lovers. Following a spell in prison, Leamas is recruited by the East and ends up in Eastern Berlin, and the plan to discredit Mundt seems to be going as planned.
Le Carre’s original novel is dark and bleak, and here the stage play mostly keeps that effect with a mostly black staging and minimal props. A lighting change is used to identify when Leamas is physically interacting with people or talking to the people inhabiting his mind. One of those mostly in his mind is a mostly retired George Smiley, the character much more prominent in the play than the novel.
Ralf Little takes on the roles of Leamas with a commitment that must be applauded. Not an easy character to identify with, little does his best to make Leamas’ decisions understood, but does not make him likeable. Unfortunately for the cast, the script is erratic, making what little plot there is less cohesive than it should be. Swearing is more freely used than it would have been in the early sixties. Smiley makes a speech which is a direct lift from the novel, but it is used in an entirely inappropriate place. Making the same actor playing Smiley, Tony Turner, play the German barrister Karden is one of the least successful transitions between characters as his distinctive RP voice does not change.
The entire cast work hard to try to create a play which works. The script and, to an extent, Jeremy Herrin’s direction mean they inevitably, are not particularly successful. No empathy for the characters is possible, and many are very one dimensional. The Spy Who Came In From The Cold is the first time one of Le Carre’s novels has been adapted for the stage and took sixty years to do so. While television adaptations have been successful, all this play does is remind us that sometimes things are best left to their original format or a format which allows greater length and flexibility than the stage. It’s an interesting attempt but ultimately leaves the audience still out in the cold.
The Spy Who Came In From The Cold runs until July 25th and tickets can be found through www.thelowry.com
Reviewer: Helen Jones
Reviewed: 22nd July 2026
North West End UK Rating: