Review: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold at Newcastle Theatre Royal
For the first time ever, a novel by John le Carré has been adapted for stage
We enter the auditorium blindly for this production, having never read The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (or seen its 1965 film), but looking forward to seeing star of The Royle Family, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps and Death in Paradise, Ralf Little, on stage.
In this Cold War spy tale, British intelligence officer Alec Leamas is ready to ‘come in from the cold’ but he’s presented with one final mission for ‘The Circus’, a fictitious British Intelligence organisation, and finds himself in enemy territory, whilst librarian Liz Gold warms his cold heart. Direct from the West End, this is a gripping play telling one of many stories in the George Smiley series (which includes Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy).
The stage is set with a circular map, a bike with its wheel spinning, and a backdrop of the Berlin Wall, with a Hamilton-esque balcony where George Smiley often appears in Alec’s mind. Ralf commands the stage immediately on entrance as Alec, playing a chain-smoking and witty heavy drinker who narrates his own story.
Characters appearing in Alec’s mind is an interesting element to an already pretty complex story of deceit, double-crossing and danger. Whilst you certainly don’t have to read the book to understand it, it’s fast-paced and there is a lot to concentrate on! Gráinne Dromgoole is endearing as Liz and Tony Turner plays George Smiley, the spymaster in the shadows. All of the costumes are impressively faithful to the time period.
In act one lighting is used cleverly to create tension whilst the set remains simple, with furniture moved on and off stage, made more atmospheric by candlelight and smoke. All of this is complemented by a very subtle but effective score. In act two, in more dramatic scenes, the set transforms into a courtroom, and later the Berlin Wall moves closer for a climactic escape sequence.
Fans of historical thrillers and spy stories will enjoy this adaptation of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, and hopefully we see more of John le Carré’s works on stage soon.
