The Spy Who Came In From the Cold review: 'Propulsive, back-to-basics

David Rubin and Rory Keenan in John le Carre's The Spy Who Came in From the Cold @sohoplace - (Johan Persson)

John Le Carré’s 1963 novel of cold-blooded Cold War espionage gets a propulsive, streamlined and reassuringly old-fashioned staging from writer David Eldridge and director Jeremy Herrin, in this production transferred from Chichester Festival Theatre.

Anchored by Rory Keenan’s terse, harried performance as alcoholic spy-runner Alec Leamas, cajoled into one last job after his best agent is murdered in Berlin, it’s full of men striding around in overcoats and pouring angry drinks in shabby postwar rooms, while a muted trumpet supplies conspiratorial ambient jazz. With the glitzy, updated TV adaptation of The Night Manager returning to our screens soon, it’s a pleasure to be taken back to the Le Carré basics here.