Review: The Spy Who Came in From the Cold
@ sohoplace until February 21st 2026
Director: Jeremy Herrin
Writer: John le Carré
Adapted by: David Eldridge
Cast: Rory Keenan, Agnes O’Casey, David Rubin, Gunnar Cauthery & Ian Drysdale
You generally know what to expect from a le Carré: intricate plotting, complex characters men and a deep-seated cynicism about the machinations of the faceless, nameless bureaucrats drinking scotch in smoky rooms and deciding how best to use people as playthings in the game of international warfare and espionage. Such is the case with The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, an adaptation of the novel of the same name that premiered in Chichester in 2024 before transferring to London’s sohoplace for three months, with Rory Keenan in the role of Alec Leamis, the spy referred to in the title.
Also typical of le Carré is the labyrinthine nature of the plot, which inevitably leads to an overload of exposition-laden dialogue, particularly in the earlier stages. The first act of Jeremy Herrin’s production is essentially just a series of conversations about an increasingly convoluted plan to trick the East Germans into killing Hans-Dieter Mundt, one of their best spies, by framing him as a double agent. As the pieces of the puzzle start to slot into place, it becomes difficult to keep a firm grip on the plot - though this is very much by design - which makes for an experience that is often bamboozling but consistently thrilling in its capacity to shock and upend.
All of the groundwork in the first act pays off in quite spectacular fashion after the interval, when all of the various conspiracies begin to reveal themselves. Both the torture sequence and the show trial sequence in the latter part of the production are a masterclass in tension and theatricality. The in-the-round staging is used expertly as a way to invite the audience to adopt the role not just of observers in a sort of public gallery but also as co-conspirators in this performative illusion of justice and public school diplomacy, where the thrill of the trial is just as important as, or perhaps even more important than, the truth.
The emotional core of the production is Keenan, who is excellent as Leamis. He stalks across the stage as a man desperately trying to reconcile his conflicted patriotism and loyalty to his country and his job with his increasing disillusion with a “game” from which he wishes to escape. He is, by all measures, a tragic hero, and Keenan captures that destructive journey towards an inevitable fate - a journey ultimately manufactured by his own superiors, and over which he has little control - with real skill. His gruff, charismatic demeanour elevates the character, and makes all the more believable the paranoia that leaves him at the mercy of apparitions that haunt him from the past.
Excellent too is John Ramm, who plays Smiley (le Carré’s best known creation) as an authoritative and scheming figure, who often conducts the action from on high, appearing in the circle of the theatre to tower over Leamis. The imbalance of power and status within the theatre parallels that within the various organisations and alliances at war with one another, and Ramm brings a real menace to Smiley that is quietly, almost surreptitiously captivating.
Some of the stage transitions are a bit clunky, and Agnes O’Casey’s token female love interest is a little underdeveloped (though her contribution to the trial is undoubtedly electrifying) but for the most part this is an impressive and thoroughly entertaining production of le Carré’s novel. Well staged and very tightly directed, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold is a play that tackles some great moral questions about the nature of war without ever being so arrogant as to try to answer them, and is yet another feather in sohoplace’s now rather plumy cap.
Score: ⭐⭐⭐⭐