THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD Will Make West End Premiere

The Ink Factory and Second Half Productions have announced the West End premiere of John le Carré’s The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, adapted for the stage by award-winning playwright and screenwriter David Eldridge (Festen). This is the first novel by the undisputed master of the modern spy genre to be brought to life on stage. Jeremy Herrin will direct following his recent acclaimed productions of People, Places and Things and Long Day’s Journey into Night. 

Following its 2024 sold out premiere at Chichester Festival Theatre The Spy Who Came In From The Cold will run @sohoplace from 17 November 2025 - 21 February 2026 with opening night on 26 November 2025. Tickets go on general sale from 10am on Thursday 22 May.  

Rory Keenan (Somewhere Boy, The Regime) and Screen International Star of Tomorrow Agnes O’Casey (Lies We Tell, Black Doves) reprise their critically acclaimed roles as disillusioned British intelligence officer Alec Leamas and the idealistic, left-wing librarian Liz Gold. John Ramm (King Lear, Wolf Hall/Bring Up The Bodies) and Gunnar Cauthery (Dear England, Mack & Mabel) also return as George Smiley and Hans-Dieter Mundt. Completing the cast are original performers Philip Arditti (Breathtaking, No Return) as Fielder, Norma Atallah as Miss Crail/President of the Tribunal, Matt Betteridge (Ulster American, Slow Horses) as Riemeck/Kiever, Ian Drysdale (Firebrand, Ross) as Control, Tom Kanji (Richard My Richard, The Box of Delights) as Ashe and David Rubin (Grantchester, Finding My Voice) as Pitt/Ford.

British intelligence officer Alec Leamas is weary, hardened, and ready to come in from the cold. But when spymaster George Smiley presents one final mission — dangerous, deceptive, and deeply personal — Leamas agrees to stay in the game. Dispatched into enemy territory, he finds his convictions tested and his defences breached by Liz Gold, a quietly defiant librarian whose compassion threatens to thaw his frostbitten heart.

A global bestseller for over six decades and named one of TIME Magazine’s All-Time 100 Novels, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold is le Carré at his most incisive — a story of betrayal not only between nations, but within the human soul.

The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, is designed by Max Jones with lighting design by Azusa Ono, composition by Paul Englishby, sound design by Elizabeth Purnell, movement direction by Lucy Cullingford, fight direction by Bret Yount, and voice by Hazel Holder. Completing the creative team is Casting Director Jessica Ronane CDG.

David Eldridge says: “It has been a great privilege adapting John le Carré's youthful masterpiece for the theatre, and it gives me great pleasure that after a sellout run in Chichester, we’re able to share the play with audiences in London. Although set in the murky world of the cold war espionage thriller it’s a strikingly relevant story for our times. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold asks us how one can retain one’ s humanity and morality if one must operate with the same impunity and brutality as your enemy to defeat him?”

Jeremy Herrin says: “Rapt full houses in Chichester told us that John le Carré’s hit novel translates meaningfully to the stage, so it’s great to bring The Spy Who Came In From The Cold to the glorious Soho Place, just up the road from George Smiley’s old haunt at Cambridge Circus. It’s an appropriate place to explore the high stakes of the Cold War, the moral bankruptcy of both East and West, and the power of love when Alec Leamas eventually finds something worth fighting for. David Eldridge keeps us on the edge of our seats as a talented group of actors take us on the twists and turns of this shattering and thrilling ride.”

Simon Cornwell Co-CEO, and Co-Founder of The Ink Factory says: “It’s thrilling to be bringing John le Carré’s global best-seller The Spy Who Came In From The Cold to the West End: the first of le Carré’s novels ever adapted for the stage.  David Eldridge and Jeremy Herrin have embraced the book’s ‘atmosphere of chilly hell’, as JB Priestley called it, to create a thrilling, visceral and emotionally devastating piece of theatre, brought to life by a brilliant ensemble.  We can’t wait to share their stunning work with le Carré fans old and new, and we hope they are excited by it as we are.”

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