CELL MATES Hampstead Theatre

Simon Gray’s spy thriller, which closed early in 1995 when Stephen Fry had a breakdown and suddenly exited the production, is successfully revived by Ed Hall. 44-year-old spy and traitor George Blake, sentenced to imprisonment for 42 years, was sprung from Wormwood Scrubs in 1961 by 32-year-old Sean Bourke, an Irish petty criminal. Bourke, invited to join Blake in Moscow; found he was not allowed to return home to Ireland. But it was not the KGB who was keeping him. It was Blake who didn’t want him to go home. Spies betray people. They can’t break the habit. Blake comes across in Geoffrey Streatfeild’s performance as a much weaker character than the cruel double agent he was in real life. Emmet Byrne’s Bourke is a much more affectionate, sympathetic and likeable person. Blake is still alive, aged 95, and living in Moscow.