Operation Mincemeat - Fortune Theatre Review

The story of a war time secret mission, absolute ear worm musical numbers, cheeky clever comedy, 5 performers and countless characters, and that's Operation Mincemeat in a nutshell. A nutshell decorated with 88 five star reviews and a dash of critical acclaim, of course.

Having opened Off West End in 2019, playing at the New Diorama Theatre, Southwark Playhouse and Riverside Studio, this musical comedy has called the cosy (putting it nicely) Fortune Theatre home since 2023 boasting 17 run extensions and a couple of a Olivier Awards for good measure, not to mention the Tony Award won by original cast member Jak Malone when the show transferred to Broadway. It tells the tale of the real life Operation Mincemeat - a World War Two plot that saw fake papers detailing a made up invasion plan planted on a corpse to fool the German troops - drawn out from the darkness of the archives and into the bright lights of musical theatre, transformed into a big bold comedy that presents a story of spies, espionage, war and thrill in a style that you have never seen before.

Ewan Montague (Madeleine Jackson-Smith at this performance) is the man about town, the M15 agent that simply believes that rules do not apply to him. He has the confidence and the pizazz to pull of a scheme that, on paper, simply shouldn't work, but perhaps not the know how. But there is where Charles Cholmondeley (George Jennings at this performance) comes in. Charles has all the brains, the initial idea and more than enough graphs and diagrams, but he jumps at his own shadow, has an unbearable phobia of bees and a shocking lack of confidence. Yet, together with Montague they are tasked by Colonel Bevan (Geri Allen at this performance) to make Operation Mincemeat work, no matter how ridiculous it sounds. Brought together with the serious and straight laced personal assistant to Bevan Hester Leggatt (Danny Becker) and bright new girl from the typing pool Jean (Roshani Abbey), they have to make the impossible possible, fool the Germans and win the war.

Jackson-Smith oozes confidence and style as the always boastful Montague, above the rules and above all others in their own eyes, earning many a laugh with their increasingly cocky and outlandish behaviour, working as a perfect polar opposite to the jittery genius that is Jennings' Charles who's Act One number 'Dead in the Water' is a wonderful depiction of how anxiety can stop one from pursuing their dreams and what they want to do in life. Geri Allen's Colonel Bevan is no nonsense, with no time to dwell in metaphor and nothing more than the war to lose, forming a believable bond with Becker's Hester Leggatt, a women who has devoted her life to her work. And if there ever was someone who embodied the sentiment 'Bright Eyed and Bushy Tailed' it would be Abbey's Jean Leslie, the young typist who wants nothing more than to be in on the action, defying the stereotypes of womanhood and embracing her own story.

Of course, as earlier stated, these five performers do not simply play these five parts. Absolutely not. In fact, there are approximately 87 different characters in the musical, each unique and distinct, and brought to life at break neck speed in a masterclass of quick change comedy and overall slickness. From the strange and eccentric Spillsbury (portrayed by Becker), to a Spanish coroner (Jennings), a submarine captain (Becker), barmaids (Abbey) and cockney London residents (Jackson-Smith), the list of characters included in the madness is staggering. The cast's ability to jump from one to another, making each character as much of a stand out as the last is something that needs to be both celebrated and studied, as they make it look as easy as simply donning a new hat.

With songs that could rival 'Hamilton' for both their speed and their word count, Operation Mincemeat is laden with musical numbers that will be running around your head for the foreseeable. Upbeat numbers such as 'Born to Lead', 'The Ballad of Willy Watkins' and the marathon nine minute long 'Making A Man' may be the mainstay of the piece, but it is the heartfelt and touching 'Dear Bill' sung by Danny Becker as Hester that earns perhaps the biggest applause of the night.

If you had to describe Operation Mincemeat in three words, I say a slick, hilarious whirlwind as you are treated to a delight of a show that takes a serious real life story and makes brilliantly funny without losing its heart and truth. With the success that this show has enjoyed, its a given really that it would continue to extend and extend with its first tour coming soon as it reaches far beyond its tagline of the little show with a big future.