Operation Mincemeat – Southwark Playhouse, London

A review of Operation Mincemeat, on at the Southwark Playhouse. What better way to tell an absolutely madcap story than through musical theatre?

Operation Mincemeat

It’s one of those stories that is so crazy, it has to be true. During WWII, the Allies wanted to invade Sicily (some sort of strategic importance, not entirely important for the plot). But they couldn’t let the Germans find out what their plan was. In fact they wanted the Germans to move their troops elsewhere. They needed a subterfuge of some kind. Of all the options available, the one they went with involved a dead body dressed as a British pilot washing up on a Spanish beach. Did they act entirely ethically? No. But did it work? Ultimately yes.

This is a proper MI5 spy story, then (Ian Fleming is even one of the characters). But told through the lens of a musical. This could easily go wrong – there are plenty of more sombre moments that could land badly if handled too glibly. But the SpitLip team, who debuted Operation Mincemeat at New Diorama Theatre in 2019 and are now on their second run at the Southwark Playhouse, don’t fall into those traps. Operation Mincemeat doesn’t take the human cost involved in the story lightly (acknowledging, for instance, the man whose unclaimed body played such an important role), and uses a broad range of musical styles to handle the different scenarios and delight the audience.

In fact, the range of musical stylings is so broad that it encompasses Cabaret-style numbers, a Nazi boy band, and a Beyonce-type female empowerment interlude. It’s eclectic, but again, it works. Three out of four members of SpitLip, also appear on stage (Natasha Hodgson, Zoë Roberts and David Cumming), and they have some real talent. I would really enjoy seeing what else SpitLip can do!

Inspired Casting, Inspiring Stories

I have mentioned three of the actors, who are also writers and composers. Alongside them, they have brought in two more performers, both of whom are wonderful. So to give you the run down, everyone plays more than one character, but they each have one or two that they spend more time in. Zoë Roberts, for instance, plays Colonel John Bevan – in control of deception operations – but also a somewhat hapless British spy in Spain. Quite a range there already. David Cumming plays Charles Cholmondeley, whose madcap idea it is (he is also great in the Nazi boyband and Beyonce numbers). But Cholmondeley needs the assistance of dick-swinging Ewen Montagu (Natasha Hodgson) to get his plan over the line.

Between the three of them they draw out some interesting threads of entitlement and classism, as well as entertaining with acting and song and dance numbers that are undoubtedly campy and also immensely fun.

But what about women? Weren’t there any involved? There certainly were, but one thing Operation Mincemeat is very good at is an honest look at the unacknowledged contributions of women – in general, but particularly in this wartime context. That whole Beyonce-esque number is about women capitalising on opportunities vacated by men during the war. And the two remaining cast members bring this to life. Claire-Marie Hall plays Jean Leslie, an ambitious young woman who dreams of an equal place in the spotlight. And my absolute stand-out performance was Jak Malone as Hester Leggett. There’s a number in there that will tug at your heartstrings, guaranteed. And to see him switch to the Cabaret-style coroner Sir Bernard Spilsbury is a treat. Wonderful.

So Operation Mincemeat is funny, serious, camp, complex, sad, joyous – basically everything. No wonder the audience loved it. I found it really incredible what an exellent musical a relatively modest company can stage. See it for yourself, if you can, during its six week return to the Southwark Playhouse stage.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 4/5

Operation Mincemeat on until 19 February 2022