'The Spy Who Came In From The Cold' review — this John Le Carré thriller is suitably noirish and morally ambiguous

Read our review of The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, now in performances at @sohoplace to 21 February 2026.

Summary

• A John Le Carré novel is adapted for the stage for the very first time
• The Spy Who Came In From The Cold centres on Alec Leamas who is trying to frame a Stasi agent
• David Eldridge's skilful adaptation and Jeremy Herrin's noirish staging are both effective
• Rory Keenan impressively succeeds Richard Burton as the protagonist

After premiering last year in Chichester, this landmark production – the first John Le Carré novel to be adapted for the stage – has finally landed in the capital, the setting for several of the story's key moments.

One of those comes in the unlikely location of Bayswater library, where jaded spy Alec Leamas (Rory Keenan) has gone to lay low and winds up meeting Liz Gold (Agnes O'Casey), a young Jewish communist with whom he soon develops a mutual infatuation. Their relationship provides the emotional heart of Le Carré's breakthrough third novel, which tells the characteristically convoluted tale of Leamas's quest to pose as a defector in order to frame brutal Stasi operator Hans-Dieter Mundt (Gunnar Cauthery) as a double agent.

What comes over clearly in David Eldridge's skilfully filleted adaptation is the way that Leamas is constantly surrounded by ghosts, raging against mentor George Smiley (John Ramm) and friend Karl Riemeck (Mat Betteridge), whose death in Berlin he is seeking to avenge, for living rent-free in his head. The in-the-round staging at @sohoplace helps to emphasise the sense that he's a man constantly being watched from all sides.

Jeremy Herrin's production is suitably noirish, as figures moodily stalk around in Azusa Ono's shadowy lighting scheme, augmented by the muted brass of Paul Englishby's filmic score. Designer Max Jones puts a huge map on the stage floor, which fits nicely with the Le Carré milieu.

The cast are excellent, particularly Keenan, who successfully steps into no less than Richard Burton's shoes in the main role. He has the requisite mix of moral ambiguity and romantic cynicism that Le Carré made his calling card. O'Casey manages to make Liz more than just a doe-eyed innocent, hinting at the steel beneath, while Ramm's patriarchal Smiley and Cauthery's cold-eyed Mundt also stand out. There's also an enjoyably arch turn from Philip Arditti as East German officer Fiedler.

The drawback lies in the fact that a lot of the action is overly static, stilted by the understandably exposition-heavy dialogue, which lends it a radio play feel at times. The drama is at its best when it's most dynamic: the first romantic encounter of Alec and Liz; his subsequent torture at the hands of Mundt; or the famous closing moments that I won't spoil for the uninitiated.

There is much to enjoy, particularly for Le Carré aficionados, and it's a noble effort to show that his densely detailed novels are stageable. But those unfamiliar with the source material may feel somewhat left out in the cold.

The Spy Who Came In From The Cold is at @sohoplace to 21 February 2026. Book The Spy Who Came In From The Cold tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Photo credit: The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (Photos by Johan Persson)