Review: Operation Mincemeat at Newcastle Theatre Royal
Your mission (should you choose to accept it) is to get to Newcastle Theatre Royal asap to see Operation Mincemeat
A clever and creative telling of a real (and successful) British intelligence operation during World War Two (where the secret service planted false plans on a corpse and floated it on to a Spanish shore), Operation Mincemeat is totally bonkers in the best way. Only the smartest of minds can tell such a story with catchy original songs, a hilarious script and a multitude of endearing characters.
From the opening number to the all-singing, all-dancing finale the cast never miss a beat. In 2019 the first production of Operation Mincemeat was performed in an 80-seater studio, since then it has won multiple awards, broken box office records and played on broadway, but the it continues to work so well because, whilst polished, it has maintained its ‘Fringe’-y elements.
It can often be difficult to follow a complex storyline when a small cast are playing multiple characters and gender-swapped roles, especially when they switch so quickly, but this five-piece are pros, and we don’t need dramatic costume changes to tell who’s who (although crooked pathologist Bernard Spilsbury’s glittery bloodstained suit is a brilliantly camp choice).
Holly Sumpton commands the stage as naval intelligence officer Ewen Montagu, while Christian Andrews plays a fabulously convincing Hester Leggatt (MI5’s long-serving administrative assistant), and between all the slapstick silliness, Hester’s solo number, Dear Bill, brings members of the audience to tears, asking ‘why did we meet in the middle of a war? What a silly thing for anyone to do’. Although the musical might be brilliantly funny, it’s never insensitive to its topic.
We particularly enjoy the very dramatic (and incredibly well choreographed) Das Übermensch opening to act two, the briefcase/telephone entanglement scene, and the hilarious ‘Glitzy Finale’ where the production is taken to a whole new level of camp. One thing’s for certain – Operation Mincemeat is unlike any musical you’ve seen before.
