Operation Mincemeat The Musical Review | The Lowry | Manchester
- Frances
- Feb 25
- 2 min read
Operation Mincemeat is a masterful musical that turns a twice-adapted historical drama into a boundary-pushing, high-stakes comedy. With an unstoppable cast and pulsating pacing, this production delivers a refreshing, laugh-out-loud reimagining around the World War II book, The Man Who Never Was (1953).
Bringing a bout of espionage to the Lowry audience, Operation Mincemeat delves into a real-life deception used by MI5. Following the discerning Charles Cholmondeley (Seán Carey) and the self-assured Ewen Montagu (Holly Sumpton), the small team of agent's hatch a plan to circulate misinformation into German hands. Taking the body of Glyndwr Michael, a homeless man planted on Spanish shores with fake documents and fabricated plans about an Allied invasion, the cast shape-shift into a multitude of roles to showcase the elaborate bluff and their precision planning.
Created by the SplitLip comedy troupe, the five members each spin their performances into a handful of roles, switching genders, accents and costumes in rapid transitions. The versatile cast are extremely impressive and the irreverent show has a waltzing pace that rarely stops for breath. Despite having the same ingredients as its 1956 and 2021 film adaptations, this character-driven story has been hilariously revamped, weaving together the bold and familiar to offer a quintessentially British operation.
The devoted team, directed by Robert Hastie includes planner Hester (Christian Andrews), new recruit Jean Leslie (Charlotte Hanna-Williams) and their boss Johnny Bevan (Jamie-Rose Monk), who round out the charismatic cast with their uppity energy. The group’s vivid, fast-paced storytelling provides a genre-clashing, catchy soundtrack, which includes the plucky Making A Hero, the shenanigans of the far-right German track Das Übermensch and the surprisingly moving love letter Dear Bill. While some songs like Das Übermensch feel shoehorned in, the Six and Hamilton-inspired score ensures there is something for every audience member to enjoy.
The production’s 1940s setting is mostly based in the team’s MI5 London office. With a deceptively simple set that peels away to show secret panels, passages and revelations from its graph-paper patterned walls. With a few props and a portrait of Churchill moving between the scenes, this remarkable true story is left for the cast to do the heavy-lifting. The shows strongest suit is its nuanced performances that allow its cast to flow through scenes, switching gendered performances. It is extremely effective and hits on a combination of topics that layer class, war and gender into the mix quite effortlessly.
The cast dial up the pacing of this production with Hanna-Williams taking on the under-appreciated women in service and Andrews stunning wit taking effect as the Bernard Spilsbury and Hester. Carey and Sumpton also play polar opposites of each other, but their precarious plans hinge on their unflappable shoulders and watching the pair clash forms much of the traditional British humour.
Operation Mincemeat is a mashup of old-school and new, focused on the weighty topic of war whilst offering a fantastic level of intimacy from its tight-knit cast and personal storytelling. The show crafts all the magic of a classic comedy and hopefully everyone can discover this unique piece of British history, given a confident and colourful spin.
Tickets are available via the Lowry link