The critically acclaimed production of John le Carré’s The Spy Who Came In From The Cold will embark on a major UK tour beginning at Leicester Curve on the 12 March 2026 then continuing on a 21 week tour across the UK.
A global best-seller for more than six decades, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold revolutionised the modern espionage genre and is the first of le Carré’s novels to be adapted for the stage. Following a sold out premiere at Chichester Festival Theatre in 2024, the production, directed by Jeremy Herrin, will run for 14 weeks @sohoplace in London’s West End from 17 November-21 February before embarking on the UK Tour.
Adapted for the stage by award-winning playwright and screenwriter David Eldridge and named one of TIME Magazine’s All-Time 100 Novels, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold is a riveting journey through the fog-shrouded terrain of Cold War espionage, deception, and moral compromise from the undisputed master of the modern spy genre, whose works include Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and The Night Manager.
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.
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 the play’s west end run this autumn-winter season, we’re able to share the play with audiences across the UK on tour. 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?”
Director Herrin adds, “Rapt full houses in Chichester told us that John le Carré’s hit novel translates meaningfully to the stage and so I am delighted that we are bringing The Spy Who Came In From The Cold to audiences around the UK next year. 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 through the twists and turns of this shattering and thrilling ride. I can’t wait for this next chapter.”
Simon Cornwell, of co-producers The Ink Factory, comments, “This first ever adaptation of John le Carré’s novels for the stage has been received with warmth and critical acclaim which is both deeply heartening, and incredibly well deserved given the wonderful work of David and Jeremy. The tension of the story is palpable in a completely new way through this telling of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, unravelling betrayal, humanity, and the nature of truth live in front of audiences – and it’s wonderful to know it will now reach even wider through this national tour.”
ABOUT JOHN LE CARRÉ
John le Carré is the nom de plume of David John Moore Cornwell, who was born on 19th October 1931 in Poole, Dorset. He was educated at Sherborne School, the University of Bern and Lincoln College, Oxford, where he graduated with a first-class honours degree in Modern Languages. He taught at Eton from 1956 to 1958 and was a member of the British Foreign Service from 1959 to 1964, serving first as Second Secretary in the British Embassy in Bonn, and subsequently as Political Consul in Hamburg.
He began writing in 1961 and published twenty-six novels and one memoir. Many of his novels have been made into film, including Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (starring Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy), The Constant Gardener (Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz), The Russia House (Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer) and The Tailor of Panama (Pierce Brosnan). Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Smiley’s People (starring Alec Guinness), A Perfect Spy (Peter Egan), The Night Manager (Hugh Laurie, Tom Hiddleston, Tom Hollander, Elizabeth Debicki) and The Little Drummer Girl (Florence Pugh and Alexander Skarsgård) have all been adapted for television.
John le Carré declined all British-based honours, but accepted the title of Commandeur de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France) in 2005, and the Goethe Medal (Germany) in 2011. He was also the recipient of the Olof Palme Prize in Stockholm at the beginning of 2020. In 2010, he was awarded the Sunday Times Award for Literary Excellence, which he received at the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford.
THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD 2026 UK TOUR DATES
Leicester Curve Theatre, 12 – 14 March | Malvern Theatres, 18-21 March | Churchill Theatre, Bromley, 24-28 March | New Victoria Theatre, Woking, 31 March-4 April | Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham, 14-18 April | Edinburgh Festival Theatre, 21-25 April | Wales Millennium Centre, 28 April-2 May | Sheffield Lyceum, 5-9 May | Liverpool Playhouse, 12-16 May | Richmond Theatre, 19-23 May | Glasgow Theatre Royal, 26-30 May | Theatre Royal Brighton, 2-6 June | York Grand Opera House, 9-13 June | Norwich Theatre Royal, 16-20 June | Nottingham Theatre Royal, 23-27 June | The Alexandra, Birmingham, 30 June-4 July | Newcastle Theatre Royal, 7-11 July | Milton Keynes Theatre, 14-18 July | Lowry, Salford, 23-15 July | Cambridge Arts, 28 July-1 August | Bath Theatre Royal, 11-22 August 2026
The Chichester Festival Theatre production of John le Carré’s The Spy Who Came In From the Cold, is produced by The Ink Factory and Second Half Productions and is designed by Max Jones with lighting design by Azusa Ono, sound design by Elizabeth Purnell, composition by Paul Englishby, and movement direction by Lucy Cullingford.
Full tour dates and tickets here.
