If, like me, you’ve binged every second of Slow Horses and it’s left a Slough House-shaped hole in your life, you’ll want to book tickets for The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, now on at Wales Millennium Centre.
Based on John Le Carre’s 1963 Cold War classic, this is espionage stripped of glamour. More Jackson Lamb than James Bond. The mood is all shadows, damp (and dirty) overcoats and distrust you can cut with a knife. Carre famously worked for both MI5 and MI6 himself during the 1950s and ‘60s. So he was writing from a place of lived experience.
The plot & atmosphere
Set in a bleak, divided 1960s Berlin, the story drops you into a world of double-crosses and betrayals. The Berlin Wall looms in the background as a symbol of suspicion and fear.
The atmosphere is bleak, tense and beautifully stripped back, mirroring the fact that spying is a lonely, morally grey kind of life to lead.
Ralf Little: From Death in Paradise to spying purgatory
At the centre is Alec Leamas (Ralf Little), a burnt-out British agent. He’s just seen his top German contact gunned down, and is pulled into one final, dangerous mission.
Little is far removed from his roles in The Royle Family and Death in Paradise. He brings a weary, world-worn edge to Leamas: a man who’s seen too much, trusts no-one, and knows exactly how expendable he is.
The only light in his life? His tentative, reluctant relationship with Liz Gold, a bookish, communist librarian. It’s fraught. Although he is clearly falling for her, he’s also using every ounce of his energy trying to keep her far away from the ‘mess’ of his professional life. His tragic, protective instinct only adds to the tension – watching him try to insulate her from a world that we know is already closing in.
The Verdict:
What makes this production so gripping is its constant sense of unease. Who’s playing who? And what is the true objective of this mission? It’s a cold look at the dirty work of the secret services that should keep you guessing until the end.
Consider that Slow Horses hole well and truly filled.
The Spy Who Came In from the Cold is on at Wales Millennium Centre until Sat 2 May and touring until August.
Photos by Johan Persson