This is the first time the play has been staged since then.
Blake, a notorious British spy, went “home” to Moscow where he was visited by his fellow escapee from Wormwood Scrubs, a petty criminal called Sean Bourke (Emmet Byrne).
The play purports to explore the mutually dependent relationship between the two men but it is never clear whether their relationship is platonic or something more.
Much of the play revolves around deceit and betrayal of both country and friends and Bourke finds himself trapped in Moscow for years as a direct result of Blake’s mendacity.
Geoffrey Streatfeild brings a forensic detail to Blake, his fastidious speech and obsession with neatness.
Ed Hall’s production captures the seediness of the Sixties in Britain and Russia but can’t quite unlock the play’s dense, elliptical arguments.
There are enormous longueurs in the first half following their escape when they are holed up in a bedsit.
The Moscow scenes are far better with Blake’s housekeeper Zinaida (Cara Horgan) supplying anaesthetising vodka and Russian champagne for the two conflicted men while the KGB men assigned to Blake (Danny Lee Wynter and Philip Bird) are like a sinister Laurel & Hardy.