Review: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (Touring)

Wednesday 10th June 2026 at the Grand Theatre and Opera House, York

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David Eldridge’s adaptation of John Le Carré’s popular novel The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is a story of espionage, sabotage and confusion set across Berlin and London circa 1960. It asks big questions about morality and conflict, but it does so without much thrill or a sense of peril.

So it’s also a tricky one; a straightforward take on a spy story, with few bells and whistles, opting instead for a series of tense exchanges centre stage supported by a few set indicators. With a little research, it does seem fitting that director Jeremy Herrin and production designer Max Jones should take the unembellished approach that they do: the novel is stark and blunt, and that’s what readers loved. The tricky thing is, on stage, it’s doesn’t always translate as the most gripping of tales.

Ralf Little is a very stern Alec Leamas. Seemingly totally detached for the first act, he gives an aloof performance scarred with inner frustrations while performing under strict instructions from “Control” (Nicholas Murchie). Boundaries blur between the various versions of Leamas as spy and would-be saboteur of others, but the performance from Little flits between moments so quickly that it doesn’t really find solid ground until Act 2. 

Leamas of course falls for a pretty woman and deals with friends and foes and all those in between – the most notable being Gráinne Dromgoole as the naive, sweet-natured lover Liz Gold, and Melody Chikakane Brown as the unimpressed library worker Miss Crail (also playing President of the Tribunal,  providing welcome gravitas to static scenes). 

Eddie Toll is all nervous energy as Fiedler, while Tony Turner offers ambiguous energy as George Smiley. As arch nemesis to Leamas, Peter Losasso is a quietly unlikeable Mundt; no bold strokes or sinister cliches, just an average rotten apple saying hateful things in smug, clipped lines.

There are of course some good dramatic moments, with Asuza Ono’s lighting providing some ambience in a tense “blackout” scene, the interrogation scene offering welcome tension and Elizabeth Purnell’s upbeat, nostalgic sound design giving scene changes effective propulsion. 

Perhaps those who loved the novel will love this – though my fella, as one of those admiring readers, said he wasn’t that taken with it, so maybe not… For me, I’ve always held that really good adaptations shouldn’t require audiences to have a thorough knowledge of the source material; the production should be able to stand strong on its own two feet while also doing justice to what went before. With this production, I can’t help but feel that the telling of the tale is geared towards fans of the original who can join the dots and fill the gaps with prior knowledge – and that makes it less gripping as a stand-alone production.

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is at the Grand Theatre and Opera House, York until June 13th 2026 – more information and tickets can be found here.