The Spy Who Came in From The Cold
John le Carre adapted by David Eldridge
Chichester Festival Theatre, Minerva Theatre
Star rating: 4
Confession time: I have always struggled with the novels of John le Carré and TV and film adaptations of them because the plots are so convoluted that I get lost. It reflects the complicated nature of espionage, I know, but (for me, at least) it makes for pretty impenetrable fiction. The good news is that adapter David Eldridge, along with director Jeremy Herrin and his accomplished cast of nine, have created a piece in which the story telling is pretty clear, despite the source novel having more twists and loops than a full grown anaconda. Opening with everyone on stage, while Ian Drysdale as Control, stands narrator-like in the middle, introducing the characters, is an effective idea, for example.
At the heart of this Cold War story of agents, double agents and shifting loyalties, set in the early sixties as the Berlin Wall goes up is Rory Keenan as hapless Alec Leamas, sent out on one last mission. It is an outstanding performance which richly conveys all the character’s irritation, bravado, fear and eventually love for Liz Gold (Agnes O’Casey – good). The scene in which he is at the centre of an East German tribunal in the second act is terrific drama with John Ramm (as Karden) and Philip Arditti (as Fiedler) arguing their cases across him. And there’s strong work from Gunnar Cauthery as chilling Mundt, the East German controller, once a Nazi but now a communist – or maybe not. And how, when he came to London, did he manage simply to get a taxi to the airport and fly home unmolested? It’s a question which is aired from several points of view.
Herrin, and movement director Lucy Cullingford, make imaginative use of the Minerva space in this production with entries and exits from every aisle and some spot-lit appearances on a higher level. John Ramm (doubling not totally satisfactory) as George Smiley, for instance, watches a lot of the action from above which makes narrative sense as things turn out. And Max Jones’s ingenious set works a treat – a bank of chairs awaits the tribunal scene on one side of the circular stage which then swivels to provide a very specific setting for the devastating end. No spoilers here.
