Review: OPERATION MINCEMEAT, Theatre Royal Bath - Tour
Photo credit: Matt Crockett
Operation Mincemeat was an audacious, bold, and cunning plan to deceive the Nazi’s in World War II as to where the Allies planned to land to retake Southern Europe in 1943. It was a wonderful film in 2022, starring Colin Firth and Matthew McFadden, having previously been a 1956 film, The Man Who Never Was, which was based on Ewan Monatgu’s book. SplitLip developed this historical true story into a spoof musical in 2019, finally reaching the Fortune Theatre in the West End in 2023 where it is booking until February 2027, and scooping two Oliviers and a Whatsonstage Best New Musical award. It is now embarking on a UK tour until November 2026 and we caught the show at Theatre Royal Bath last night to see what all the excitement and hype was about. There is no denying the acclaim the show has garnered from such humble beginnings, nor the energy that the cast of five throw at the show, which earned a standing ovation at the end, but it is a quirky show and somewhat surprising that it claims 88 five-star reviews.
It does feel fresh and different but borrows ideas and the feel from much that has gone before. There is a touch of The Cambridge Footlights revue in its heyday, a little of SIX’s musical treatment of historical events, perhaps an idea from a Monty Python sketch, a Nazi dance routine from The Producers, a comedic style exploited by Mischief Theatre in The Play Goes Wrong, and the madcap humour of Mel Brooks. It’s all done with a tongue-in-cheek smirk, leading to the declaration about the story in Act 2 that “at least it’s not a bloody musical.” If that is your cup of tea, then you too will love the show.
The five-strong cast play multiple characters in gender neutral casting. Holly Sumpton is Ewan Montagu, the man who persuades MI5 and Churchill to attempt the deception, based on the bonkers idea dreamt up by Charles Cholmondeley, played by Sean Carey. Jamie-Rose Monk is their boss Johnny Bevan, while Christian Andrews is the secretary Hester Leggatt who drafted love letters to the imaginary Major William Martin. The fifth cast member is Charlotte Hannah-Williams as the MI5 clerk, Jean Leslie. Together, they plot to deliver a body onto the coast of Spain with a briefcase containing secret plans of the Allies Landings in the hope that they will be passed to German spies and on to Berlin. If it was not an actual true story, we would not believe such a plot.
The music by David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoe Roberts is poppy, fun and silly without being particularly memorable, with the opening ‘Born To Lead’ setting the scene though to the ‘Glitzy Finale’, which pays tribute to the poor unfortunate man whose body was used, Glyndwr Michael. It creates a production style which no doubt SplitLip will seek to replicate with other stories in the same way that Mischief Theatre have formularised The Play That Goes Wrong. We wish them success with the tour and judging by the audience reaction in Bath, it will be a great success.
*** Three stars
Reviewed by: Nick Wayne