NE1 Reviews: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

But first – a quick sparks note rundown before we get into the nitty gritty. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold follows British intelligence officer Alec Leamas sent undercover to East Germany as a faux detector to sow disinformation during the height of the Cold War. Perhaps one of John le Carre’s sons, Nick Harkaway, writes it best when he describes the show as “bare and stained with natural colour like the blocks of concrete separating one half of Berlin from the other.” But in the midst of his mission, Leamas falls in love with the local British communist party secretary Liz Gold – and despite his express wish for The Circus to exclude her from their plans, she becomes dangerously entangled in the schemes too.

Yes, it’s an intricate plot, but there’s no need to rush through reading the book. Adaptor David Eldridge has done a brilliant job at distilling circa 250 pages from the original text, into an easily digestible two-hour production. It’s a process, after all, that has been over sixty years in the making. Despite Le Carre’s previous attempts to write for the stage (he had previously written a play entitled Ronnie Boy, but it was sadly never finished), The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is the first of his twenty-eight novels to make it to the theatre. As another of the author’s sons, Simon Cornwall writes, it wasn’t until him and his father met David Eldrige and producer Alan Stacey that they began to see a future for the show: “Here, felt our father, was a man who could bring Alec Leamas and Liz Gold to life on stage, not simply as an exercise of intellect or craft, but with visceral understanding of what it meant to be on the outside.”

Eldridge has done a fantastic job of making Le Carre’s world more accessible for audiences both familiar and unfamiliar with his work. This is largely thanks to the short, snappy scene structure that runs throughout the show. By never lingering too long in one moment, audiences are constantly kept on the edge of their seat in anticipation of the next twist and turn.

Cleverly, we’re also thrown into the mind of Leamas himself, and the conversations he imagines having with other agents from Le Carre’s faux British intelligence organisation The Circus. Bright blue LEDs light up around the stage, as Leamas wars with himself, his colleagues, and even sees the ghost of his final undercover source, Karl Riemeck, literally running circles around his mind. Those visual cues add to the tension of the production as a whole, with “actual” conversations even pausing mid-flow to give us a glimpse into Leamas’ thoughts and opinions – and what he imagines others might be thinking.  

And of course, none of this would be possible without the incredible talent that takes to the stage each and every night to make the magic happen. Ralf Little (Death in Paradise, The Royal Family) is imposing as Alec Leamas, expertly embodying his character’s descent into a kind of madness, where the lines between fact and fiction become unmanageably blurred.

Grainne Dromgoole also shines as the local communist party secretary turned Leamas’ lover, Liz Gold. It might’ve been easy to diminish this role into the “love interest”, but I personally like how steadfast she remained in her beliefs, even when others tried to use them against her.

Tony Turner also deserves his flowers for his role as the illusory George Smiley, whose presence seems to haunt the set throughout the production. By speaking in Leamas’ mind for the vast majority of the play, his interaction with Gold is made all the more powerful.

Whether you’re a seasoned John Le Carre fan, or this is your first venture into his work, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is definitely worth watching, so don’t miss out on those tickets!

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is playing at Newcastle’s Theatre Royal until Saturday 11^th July 2026. For more information, including how to book tickets, visit www.theatreroyal.co.uk/whats-on/spy-who-came-in-from-the-cold.

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