Review: The Spy Who Came in From the Cold - Norwich Theatre

Despite plenty of TV and film adaptations of his dozens of novels, this production of The Spy Who Came in From the Cold is the first of the John Le Carré stories to make it to the stage. And on this evidence, this apparent reticence to bring his complex spy tales to theatres is justified.

Firstly though, the positives. And there were creditable performances aplenty from the likes of Ralf Little as the fairly one dimensional Alec Leamas, along with Nicholas Murchie as Control and Tony Turner as George Smiley. And even if her character lacked any subtlety, Gráinne Dromgoole brought a much needed heightened drama to her scenes as love interest Liz Gold. In addition, the atmosphere created by lighting designer Azusa Ono captured the mood of the piece perfectly, and remained impactful throughout.

Now, I can't quite decide whether I think the biggest problem with this production is its script or the direction. I appreciate the writer David Eldridge had a lot of plot to squeeze in, and naturally would have veered towards keeping things concise, but the result is that many fundamental scenes are reduced to mere snapshots.

For example, Alec falls ill and is tended to for six days by Liz, but the couple of scenes prior showing their first meetings are so hurriedly rushed that no sooner are they having dinner for the first time, then Liz is effectively breaking into Alec's bedsit and declaring that she can see them being together forever. With little context leading up to that moment, it does make her character come across as a bit of a bunny boiler.

But the fault in scenes such as this also lies at the director's door, as the pacing is dictated by them. The production is given little opportunity to catch its breath and show the passing of time, and nor is Ralf Little apparently given time to change outfits, as he's woken after his six days in bed still wearing his shirt and suit trousers looking fairly sharp.

Leamas (Ralf Little) and Control (Nicholas Murchie) pause for a breath - image credit: Johan Persson

There's pacey and there's rushed, and this felt very much the latter, as the first half in particular rattled through so much exposition and lengthy dialogue. Thankfully the diction was on point from the actors, but for those like myself who weren't already familiar with the characters or the plot, it had the potential to make your head spin. It got all the more complicated when there was lots of flitting back and forth between Alec's inner dialogue with Smiley, who was confusingly positioned atop the Berlin Wall.

There was initially some strong visual imagery, with the show opening with a stricken bicycle laying in front of the imposing Wall. However, the ideas quickly ran short with most scenes stripped back to a simple table and chairs. If you don't know how it ends, I won't spoil it, but what could/should have been quite a dramatic and visually striking moment somehow fell flat.

Perhaps it would fare better with fans of the novel who don't require as much context as the likes of me, but The Spy Who Came in From the Cold left me feeling very little for any of the characters.

It continues this week at Norwich Theatre Royal.