From the Novel by John Le Carré
Adaptor: David Eldridge
Director: Jeremy Herrin
An interesting, well acted, if ultimately not completely satisfying, adaption of a John Le Carré classic.
John Le Carré was a master in his genre. There have been many adaptations of his work; most iconically Smiley’s People and Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy on television in the 1980s. The character of Smiley was epitomised by Sir Alec Guinness; one of the leading film actors of his generation and Obi Wan Kenobi in the original raft of Star Wars films. It is fair to say Gary Oldman lent quite heavily on the Guinness portrayal in the Tinker Taylor remake of 2011.
In this story, George Smiley is seemingly semi-retired from the spy game, or “The Circus” as British intelligence is referred to, and the main protagonist of the piece is a Smiley protege, Alec Leamas. Leamas is persuaded by the head of “The Circus”, an enigmatic figure simply named Control, on one last mission to entrap the East German agent who is responsible for the death of all of his British agents under his control. The guilt of which Leamas feels deeply.
Ralph Little (Death in Paradise, The Royale Family) plays Leamas, a complicated and unlikable man, on the surface, addicted to alcohol, brimming with violence and estranged from his wife and children. He is a flawed anti-hero, but has a keen sense of duty to his country.
Little plays Leamas well. He brings a focused intensity to the character, showing passion and anguish. He is rarely off stage and performs throughout with great gusto. Sadly the adaptation itself does not allow for much nuance and is pitched at a continual high energy tone with buckets of exposition in every scene. The tussle between drama and exposition in an espionage play must be a mercurial balance to get right. Here it feels a bit overly done.
The acting is exemplary. Grainne Dromgoole shines as librarian and Leamas love interest, Liz Gold and Tony Turner as Smiley gives an excellent performance as the enigmatic Smiley. Melody Chikakane Brown stands out as the crotchety Miss Crail, gaining the biggest laughs of the night and the supporting cast blend well and support Little superbly.
The fundamental flaw in the piece is the believability of the love story that lies within its centre. It is very difficult to see why Ms Gold falls in love with such a boorish man after such a brief liaison and time is not given in scenes to develop the affair to the point that the audience truly cares about the characters or their love affair. As a result, what is left is spy plot, and plenty of it; some of which is quite clunkily treated.
However, the longer scenes in the second half are beautifully played and give rise to true tension, especially the court room scene. The interrogation scenes are also effective and are delightful snippets of high stress drama.
The staging is aptly bleak for action taking place in 1960s Berlin and nicely designed. Although, the representation of the Berlin wall could have been more imposing as it mainly looks like a fun climbing frame; a challenge with Little takes on in the final scenes. There is also a blue neon light that encompasses the stage at certain times and seems rather baffling in terms of context.
Ultimately, even with its problems, this is definitely a stylish thriller with superb acting, an excellent central role and source material that is second to none as far as the spy genre is concerned.
Reviewed on 2nd June. Runs to 6th June 2026
