REVIEW: Operation Mincemeat, The Lyceum, Sheffield
I say, old chap! There’s a war on, what ho!
That dastardly Mr Hitler is rampaging across Europe and, in a classified location deep beneath London, the fate of the nation rests in the hands of MI5… or we’re all dead in the water.
Olivier award-winning musical Operation Mincemeat has deployed from the West End to The Lyceum in Sheffield until Saturday – and it’s a razor-sharp, high-energy show so clever that only the finest minds in England could have dreamt it up… yet it is all true.
In 1943 the British intelligence service really did dress up the corpse of an anonymous homeless man as a dead Royal Marine, to be washed up on a Spanish shore handcuffed to a briefcase of state secrets, in a preposterous ploy to feed the Germans false information about an invasion of Sardinia.
In fact the Allies wanted to throw the Nazis off the scent of their plan to actually storm Sicily – and, against all the odds, the audacious plan worked. The couldn’t-make-it-up mission, codenamed Operation Mincemeat, was a masterstroke of deception, ultimately credited with saving thousands of British servicemen’s lives and helping the Allies take strategic ground in the defeat of fascism.
If you’ve already seen the 2021 Colin Firth film of the same name (just as faithful to the incredible-but-true history, but distinctly less farcical), then you’ll be familiar with the storyline – and that might help. In the interval of the theatre show, fellow audience-members could be overheard discussing with some confusion exactly what was going on and which characters each actor portrays.
That’s partly because the breathtakingly talented cast is tiny – just five amazingly gifted stars, each playing multiple, constantly-interchangeable, male and female parts, with a versatility and charisma that feels almost superhuman.
The lightning speed lyrics, occasional rapping, and character transitions are dizzying, too. If you’re not au fait with the plot, it might be best to brush up before you go.
No sooner has Christian Andrews – brilliant as buttoned-up M15 senior secretary Hester Leggatt – finished delivering the most moving and emotionally painful song of the show, he’s back, with a completely different costume and accent, as submarine commander Captain Bill Jewell.
Complementing the complexities of the script and the gender-bending casting, the seemingly simple set is inventively ingenious too: huge illuminated walls made up of war maps and blueprints, sliding desks and Bakelite telephones, secret doors which open in unexpected, laugh-out-loud places.
A harbour’s rigging becomes Covent Garden Tube station becomes a pub becomes a nightclub – all within the space of minutes.
It’s a phenomenal piece of theatre, almost as genius as the original plan itself.
Real-life history seems to lend itself flawlessly to modern musical theatre magic – the show has been likened favourably to those other historical masterpieces, Hamilton and Six – and there are similarities to the fast-paced Hamilton-esque wordplay, and the sublime Six-style pop-inspired harmonies and varying musical genres.
Just like Six, the show balances tone to perfection – spoof, satire, and genuine poignancy, all mixed into one unforgettable evening’s entertainment. One moment you’re laughing out loud at yet another excellently executed line (Holly Sumpton as arrogant Old Etonian Ewen Montagu is masterful, a mistress of comic timing and devastating delivery, especially when Sean Carey as poor Charles Cholmondeley is her foil); the next, you are struck by the quiet humanity behind the double bluff mission.
There’s contemporary commentary on the state of the world today, too.
“When the world’s such a mess, it’s hard not to be depressed,” the cast sing – reminding us that ‘small flashes of joy’ are perhaps “all any of us can hope for” in worryingly uncertain times.
It’s hilarious, exhilarating, touching – and tremendous.
The touring production of Operation Mincemeat: The Musical is nothing short of a triumph and, if you can find a seat between now and Saturday, well – you bally must.
- Operation Mincemeat is at The Lyceum, Sheffield, until Saturday, April 25.