Chichester Festival Theatre’s successful stage adaptation of John le Carré’s best-selling novel The Spy Who Came In From The Cold is transferring to the West End.
The Spy Who Came In From The Cold is playing at @SohoPlace Theatre in London for 14 weeks, from 17 November 2025 to 21 February 2026.
The production marks the first time that John le Carré’s work has been produced for the West End stage.
Written by award-winning screenwriter and playwright David Eldridge (Festen), adapted from John le Carré’s novel, the production is directed by Jeremy Herrin (Graces Pervades, Every Brilliant Thing, People, Places and Things).
The show stars John Ramm (King Lear, Wolf Hall/Bring Up The Bodies) as George Smiley, with Rory Keenan (Somewhere Boy, The Regime) as Alec Leamas, Agnes O’Casey (Black Doves) as Liz Gold, and Gunnar Cauthery (Dear England) as Hans-Dieter Mundt.
Completing the cast are original performers Philip Arditti (Breathtaking) as Fielder, Norma Atallah (Mama Mia!, Rome) as Miss Crail/President of the Tribunal, Matt Betteridge (Slow Horses) as Riemeck/Kiever, Ian Drysdale (Firebrand) as Control, Tom Kanji (Richard My Richard) as Ashe and David Rubin (Grantchester) as Pitt/Ford.
Photos from the Chichester Festival Theatre run of The Spy Who Came In From The Cold in 2024
In the story, 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.
Joining Jeremy Herrin in the creative team of The Spy Who Came In From The Cold is designer Max Jones, lighting designer Azusa Ono, composer Paul Englishby, sound designer Elizabeth Purnell, movement director Lucy Cullingford, fight director Bret Yount, voice director Hazel Holder, and casting director Jessica Ronane CDG.
The first novel by the undisputed master of the modern spy genre John Le Carré, and a global bestseller for over six decades 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.
This Chichester Festival Theatre production is produced in the West End by The Ink Factory and Second Half Productions in association with Nica Burns.
The Spy Who Came In From The Cold is playing at @SohoPlace Theatre in London from 17 November 2025 to 21 February 2026.
Other new Jeremy Herrin projects coming to the West End this year include Every Brilliant Thing, at @SohoPlace Theatre in August, starring Lenny Henry, Jonny Donahoe, Ambika Mod, and Sue Perkins. Herrin is also directing Ralph Fiennes and Miranda Raison in a new David Hare play at the Theatre Royal Bath, with Graces Pervades opening in June.
In other John le Carré news today, Nick Harkaway, John le Carré’s son has written a new George Smiley novel for Viking. Harkaway’s new novel, The Taper Man, features iconic spy George Smiley, and continues from Harkaway’s previous book, Karla’s Choice.
More about The Spy Who Came In From The Cold tickets at @SohoPlace Theatre London
What They Said
Writer David Eldridge said in a statement: “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 said: “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 said: “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.”
Justin Audibert Artistic Director and Kathy Bourne Executive Director of Chichester Festival Theatre said: “The Spy Who Came In From The Cold was one of the hottest tickets of Festival 2024 at Chichester Festival Theatre. We were so excited to produce the first-ever stage adaptation of a John le Carré novel in David Eldridge’s totally gripping version; and we’re delighted that London audiences will have the chance to relish Jeremy Herrin’s memorable production with the outstanding original cast.”
More about The Spy Who Came In From The Cold tickets at @SohoPlace Theatre London
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