Three of the writers on Operation Mincemeat, one of the zestiest UK musical imports ever, met at the University of Warwick not all that long ago. This warrants immediate mention because over the years other England university alumni have toddled their brainy, highly hilarious goods stateside, often directly to Broadway.
Think of Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Jonathan Miller, Alan Bennett, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson, and other laugh-producing smarty-pants often lumped together as Oxbridge types. (That’s Oxford-Cambridge, of course.) Sir Arthur Sullivan and W. S. Gilbert earned their degrees elsewhere but—on the evidence of the Warwick grads—they’re unquestionably Operation Mincemeat influencers. (Did Gilbert ever rhyme “influencers”? Don’t think so.)
Yes, indeedy, David Cumming, Natasha Hodgson, and Zoë Roberts, worthy companions to all the above-mentioned, are now following in their predecessors’ footprints on a mind-blowing production they’ve written and appear in with Clare-Marie Hall and Jak Malone.
[Read Michael Sommers’ ★★★★☆ review here.]
Be it known that Cumming, Hodgson, and Roberts are as deft and daft performers as they are writers and founders of a company they call—along with Felix Hagan (not in the cast)—SpitLip. Be it further known that SpitLip’s Operation Mincemeat, one of those transfers where pre-shipping worries go like “Is it too British?” is quite British but is also unremittingly tough, ultimately adorable, and joyfully welcome.
Some readers of this extremely favorable review will think the title is vaguely familiar. Not surprising, as it’s the title of the 2021 film Operation Mincemeat, a remake of the 1956 film The Man Who Never Was, which in its turn was adapted from the 1953 Operation Mincemeat memoir by Ewen Montagu.
Lieutenant Commander Montagu was recounting the completely true story of a World War II British scam—as the scam’s creator, he was in a position to know—in which preceding the 1943 invasion of Sicily, he and compatriots fooled the Germans into believing the expected invaded territory would be Sardinia. The ruse involved the Germans discovering a corpse, beached in Spain, carrying a briefcase containing the supposedly top-secret plan, named Operation Mincemeat.
A triumphant tale, which may lead to wondering why four comic-tuner writers would want to turn such somber material into what might be dismissed as “sophomoric.” If, however, a property like this can be tagged “sophomoric,” it certifies that the usually derogatory adjective now qualifies as signifying magna cum laude material.
How did the determined SpitLip crew decide on the decidedly serious subject? Perhaps they considered that settling for obvious musical comedy material was too easy. Give ourselves a challenge, they might have told each other. They do give the impression of being those kinds of iconoclastic university types.
So along with Hall and Malone, they conscientiously went about incorporating what must be most of the authentic Operation Mincemeat facts, even eventually getting around to the identity of the nameless corpse. Then they joined those grave elements to musical trimmings that include 20—count ’em, 20—irresistible numbers. They honor the venerable episode while simultaneously having infectious fun with it.
Hodgson appears as the staunch Ewen Montagu; Cumming as Charles Cholmondeley, a clumsy sort who helped solidify the ultimately successful scheme; Roberts as another determined schemer; Hall as an office staffer angling for a more a significant role in the operation; and Malone as a sensitive female office staffer. Note that there’s a certain amount of cross-gender performing as well as the five cast members assuming many other roles that require super-quick changing into and out of Ben Stones’ costumes.
Along their journey to Manhattan, the cast has incorporated many tweaks. A little-known troupe when they introduced Operation Mincemeat in London’s fringe and at an 81-seat space, their enthusiastic word-of-mouth had them moving to larger but still small venues before ascending to the West End at the intimate 400-seat Fortune Theatre (where it continues running with a replacement cast).
As the production traveled, at first undoubtedly with little capitalization, it’s obviously been able to put more on each new and larger stage. At the 800-seat Golden Theatre—in other words, 10 times the size of their original site—the cast is playing on the most commodious stage they’ve yet reached. And how fabbo it is with Stone’s elaborated, moneybags set and his many costumes. (Could there have been anywhere near this many in the London Fringe?) Those elements are further enhanced by Mark Henderson’s flashy lighting and Mike Walker’s seemingly surround-sound.
And now the vastly talented cast members—having dealt with surely numerous changes along the way—know the demands on them inside and out. They’re past-masters of their primary and ancillary roles and are great fun at them, as directed to a fare-thee-well by Robert Hastie and choreographed to a further fare-thee-well by Jenny Arnold.
They get everyone of their intended laughs. At one point, a frustrated plotter asks, “What have you got to lose?” The response from an even more frustrated co-worker? “The war!” The players are comfortable enough to vary their heat-of-battle moods. Malone, for instance, takes his time singing “My Bill,” a bittersweet ballad about uncertain wartime romance.
As they bound along, the five performers have ingrained their work so well they could amusingly pass for figures on a Swiss clock. Their ensemble presentation is like nothing—or very few things—seen on a local stage before. It’s a major reason, though hardly the only of abundant reasons, to make Operation Mincemeat gleeful obligatory viewing.
Operation Mincemeat opened March 20, 2025 at the John Golden Theatre and runs through August 18. Tickets and information: operationbroadway.com
