Operation Mincemeat
Newcastle Theatre Royal | 22nd June 2026
Review by Stephen Stokoe
Now, I have looked forward to this show visiting our region for some time. I first saw it in London’s west end a couple of years ago and I have waxed lyrical about it ever since. If you have not see this hilarious, clever, and surprisingly moving musical yet then do not delay, it is an absolute gem and is certainly not one to be missed.
The story concerns a plot by the British to deceive the Nazis of Germany into thinking that they are to land somewhere they are not by supplying them with false information in the briefcase of a fallen pilot. Sounds crazy? Well, it most certainly is and there are more than a few hiccups along the way, but this is actually based on a very true story and formed the plot for the Ronald Neame helmed movie “The Man That Never Was” from 1956 which starred Clifton Webb and Gloria Grahame. The film itself was based on a book by Lieutenant Commander Ewen Montagu and it an award winning espionage thriller of some cinematic weight. The musical on the other hand, takes the source material featuring large number of characters and gives it a treatment that would not look out of place in the annuls of Monty Python or Blackadder history.
For this first national tour of the long running spoof spy musical there are two extremely hard working casts and while I naturally only got to see one of them at this opening night of the north east leg of the tour, I will mention the other actors who you may see because I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever, they will be equally spiffing in their roles!
So we start with the well meaning naturalist-cum-spy Charles Cholmondeley played along with many other parts quite brilliantly by Seán Carey (Morgan Phillips.) Carey really encapsulates the nervy, loveable dweeb constantly in the shadow of the bombastic and frightfully English Ewan Montagu played by Holly Sumpton (Katy Ellis.) These two characters (Cholmondeley mainly) are responsible for coming up with the ludicrous plan which becomes Operation Mincemeat and presenting it to commanding officer Johnny Bevan played by Jamie-Rose Monk (Georgina Hagen) who green-lights the plan. Assisting on the administration side at Hester Leggatt played exquisitely by Christian Andrews (Jordan Pearson) and Leggatt’s subordinate who has designs on bucking the patriarchal establishment of the time, secretary Jean Leslie played beautifully by Charlotte Hanna-Williams (Katy Ellis.)
These are the main characters that are listed in the programme. Each and every one of this amazing actors plays multiple roles including an extraordinarily sweaty British agent in Spain, a very dubious cockney body snatcher, several naval sea dogs and officers, and a Spanish coroner. Each character adds to the complexity of the story which were expertly researched and written by David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, and Zoe Roberts of Splitlip in 2019. These four are currently receiving rave and well deserved reviews across the pond on Broadway.
I often talk of slick performances and beautiful choreography. Operation Mincemeat takes this to a whole new level of brilliance. The direction on this tour falls to Georgie Staight from Robert Hastie on the West End and the hours of work that must have gone into every scene and sequence must be astronomic. The choreography (Jenny Arnold) is mesmerising and occasionally magical. A wonderful lighting plot from Mark Henderson and sound design from Mike Walker just adds more levels and is carefully worked and operated.
There are some memorable songs in the piece. As I write I have one playing in my head. If you catch this show you will get earworms. The musical direction from Sam Sommerfeld is wonderful as he leads a four strong band from the keys. I particularly liked the background refrains which were very reminiscent of soundtracks from thriller movies of the era of the original film.
Having read up on the historical story of Operation Mincemeat it is clear that the playwrights have done their home work and amid the crazy storytelling, the wonderfully lampooned and over the top characters, the man that never was becomes the man who was in a very touching tribute towards the end of the show. This never ceases to have me bubbling before bounding to my feet to give a well deserved standing ovation for an outstanding show performed by an incredibly hard working cast. There are insufficient superlatives for how I feel about each and every aspect of Operation Mincemeat. Go and see it – you have your orders!
Operation Mincemeat is bonkers, it is witty, it is extraordinarily clever. This is my third visit to the mayhem of MI5 headquarters but it most certainly will not be my last.