Operation Mincemeat is a musical comedy with book, music and lyrics by David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts (known as the musical comedy troupe SpitLip, with this show being their debut production). The plot is based on Operation Mincemeat, a Second World War British deception operation. The show received six Laurence Olivier Award nominations, winning two for Best New Musical and Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical for Jak Malone, and garnered four Tony Award nominations including Best Musical, and won for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Malone.
Background The basis of the musical is Operation Mincemeat, the successful 1943 British deception operation to disguise the Allied invasion of Sicily during the Second World War by making the Axis powers believe an invasion of Sardinia or Greece was actually imminent.
Synopsis Act I In 1943, Naval intelligence officer Ewen Montagu welcomes the audience to MI5, where the "elite" of the British military contribute to the World War II effort ("Born to Lead"). Colonel Johnny Bevan informs his subordinates that the British government requires a strategy to convince the Nazis that the Allied Forces are planning to invade Sardinia rather than their actual (and more obvious) target, Sicily; several officers, including Montagu and Ian Fleming, present their ideas, but despite their conviction of their own brilliance ("God That's Brilliant"), Bevan dismisses them all as unrealistic and poorly planned. Sulking after his rejection, Montagu encounters Air Force officer and "amateur naturalist" Charles Cholmondeley, who has formulated a strategy code-named "Operation Mincemeat", but is convinced of its futility after being bullied out of line by Montagu and his colleagues ("Dead in the Water"). Montagu reads his plan, and despite declaring it "insane", recognises its potential and convinces Charles that they should team up to pitch Mincemeat to Bevan, noting his own natural "flair for presentation" will bolster Charles' lack of confidence.
Meanwhile, Bevan's secretary Hester Leggatt welcomes new clerk Jean Leslie to her team, who is eager to disrupt the typically side-lined role of women in MI5 and dreams of ranking alongside the male officers ("All the Ladies"). Although Jean tries to stop them while bringing Bevan tea, Montagu and Charles arrive at the last minute to pitch Mincemeat. After Charles fumbles their presentation, Montagu recognises Jean's worthwhile attempts to help and drafts her in to explain the plan: MI5 will obtain a male corpse, dress it as a British soldier who has drowned following a plane crash at sea, plant documents on it "revealing" the Allied plans to invade Sardinia, and place it off the coast of neutral Spain, where Nazi spies will discover it and use the documents as cause to move their troops from Sicily ("The Pitch"). Bevan is highly sceptical, but concedes that it is the one decent idea he has heard and allows the operation to proceed. Jean and Hester are officially drafted in as support, but Bevan covertly assigns Hester to investigate Montagu, who is believed to be in contact with his brother Ivor, a filmmaker who is suspected to be a spy for the Russian government.
Together, Montagu, Charles, Jean and Hester create a fake Royal Marines major, "Bill Martin". To ensure his identity is "watertight", Hester falsifies numerous identification papers, Charles designs an airtight canister to ensure the corpse can be transported without rotting and Montagu and Jean source receipts for a week of leisure in London (by literally having a week of leisure in London). Montagu purchases an engagement ring so the receipt can be on Bill's person, along with a photograph of Jean posing as Bill's imagined fiancée ("Making a Man"). Charles notices that Montagu occasionally "misplaces" important files, but suppresses his concerns. A corpse, that of an unnamed transient who ingested rat poison, is obtained with the help of Montagu's morally dubious acquaintance Bernard Spilsbury ("Spilsbury"); the team are concerned about using it without the knowledge and consent of any relatives, let alone knowing his real name, but Montagu is adamant that it is better if the corpse is a "nobody". Bevan is unimpressed by the team's spending spree, but concedes that their creation is believable, suggesting that Bill should be carrying a letter from his fiancée. After dismissing Charles and Jean's questionable efforts at writing one ("Love is a Bird"), Hester indirectly relates her own story of the lover she lost during World War I, and agrees to a deeply moved Jean's request that she write the letter herself ("Dear Bill").
That night, Montagu and Charles arrive in Scotland to load "Bill's" corpse onto the submarine HMS Seraph; its crew are told that the sealed canister contains meteorological equipment ("Sail On, Boys"). Charles is deeply insecure about the result of the operation, but is swayed by Montagu into celebrating its completion in a carefree pub crawl, during which he witnesses a brief meeting between Montagu and his brother Ivor. ("Just For Tonight") Meanwhile, after enduring enemy attacks, the crew of the Seraph are unnerved by the contents of the canister but follow their orders, placing Bill in the sea off the Spanish coast before thanking him for his service.
Act II The German army present a display of their apparent dominance, in the form of a high energy boy band performance. ("Das Übermensch"). After reprimanding the audience for "appreciating" the enemy, Bevan relates the progression of Mincemeat and reveals that a problem has arisen ("Bevan's Update"). The team await news from Vice-Consul Francis Haselden in Huelva, but are dismayed to learn that the victim of an aeroplane accident he calls to report is a live American soldier, also named William; they fear it will make Bill's story less believable. Moments later, they learn Bill has also been recovered, but the Spanish government is indeed suspicious and have ordered an autopsy. They instruct Haselden to make sure the briefcase holding the false plans is seized by the Nazi-populated Spanish authorities ("The Ballad of Willie Watkins").
Charles and Jean attempt to keep working through the crises, but Montagu believes they can do no more and simply wants to enjoy himself; he is hurt by Jean reminding him that their London excursions were merely for the operation. Bevan calls the team into his office to alert them to an unexpected complication: Spilsbury's methodology is flawed and he should not have been trusted with the operation ("Spilsbury Reprise"). Montagu insists that Mincemeat is running smoothly despite the setbacks, but Bevan orders the immediate abortion of all plans ("I Call Abort"); however, this fails to reach Haselden, who diligently ensures that the autopsy is rushed and the briefcase reaches the authorities ("Haselden's Got a Good Feeling"). After an animated reprimanding by Bevan for his nonchalance and failure to obtain consent for the use of Bill's body, Montagu takes his frustration out on Jean, fully dismisses her role in Mincemeat and orders her to go back to her role as a clerk and assistant. Furious and humiliated, Jean confesses to Hester that she'd pictured the veneration they'd receive if the operation was a success; Hester gently persuades her that not everyone who works for a cause will be recognised, but that does not make them any less valuable – whether they are spearheading an operation or making tea – and Jean thanks her for helping her to "grow" ("Useful"). Hester is inspired to recruit Jean into the investigation of Montagu's brother, asking her to continue dining with Montagu and encouraging him to talk about himself. Jean agrees to swallow her pride and investigate.
Montagu orders Haselden to drop hints that the British desperately want Bill's briefcase back in the hopes of alerting German spies. After stroking Haselden's ego to get him to cooperate, Montagu describes tactics for getting people to trust him, upsetting Charles, who has grown increasingly suspicious of seeing Montagu take files out of the office. Haseldon succeeds in his efforts: Bill's briefcase is taken to Berlin, but there is no sign the Germans plan on moving their troops ("Act as If"). Eventually, Montagu discovers Charles, Jean and Hester going through his possessions. Despite his protests, they read his files, learn that he is actually writing a film script about Mincemeat depicting himself as a hero. He was secreting files so that he could archive them for personal use, being careful not to let them into the wrong hands, and he was talking to Ivor – a filmmaker – to get his opinion on a rough, censored draft of the script. While appalled that he intends to sensationalise their story, Charles, Jean, and Hester conclude that Montagu is innocent of treason.
An update from Bevan then confirms that Haselden's whisper campaign has worked, and Adolf Hitler himself has ordered the transfer of German troops from Sicily to Sardinia. The Allies subsequently invade Sicily with little-to-no bloodshed. Bevan informs an ecstatic Montagu, Charles, Jean and Hester that Operation Mincemeat is officially a success, and that Montagu and Charles will receive the highest level of commendation in the British Army ("Did We Do It?"). As the team celebrate, Charles observes that the unfortunate moral of their story is that as long as you're in charge, you can do whatever you like.
To counteract this, they relate a summary of everything that occurred following the success of Mincemeat: the Second World War is won by the Allies with help from the US Army (who recruit a number of Nazis in the aftermath); Ian Fleming goes on to create James Bond; Haselden and his assistant Steve remain in Spain; Hester initiates a romance with Bevan; Jean looks ahead to the progress of feminism during and after the war; Montagu eventually makes (and acts in) his film about Operation Mincemeat; and Charles goes on to do classified work for MI5. As Bevan finishes relating the events of the operation to his superiors, they wonder who the man known as Bill Martin really was; the cast address the audience to inform them that thanks to Montagu's archives, he was eventually identified as a gardener named Glyndwr Michael, and that there is now an inscription in Huelva acknowledging that he served in the Second World War as Major William Martin ("A Glitzy Finale").
Production history Off-West End (2019–2022) The musical premiered at the New Diorama Theatre on 14 May 2019 for a run until 15 June. The cast featured writers Natasha Hodgson, David Cumming and Zoë Roberts with Jak Malone and Rory Furey-King.
Following the New Diorama run, the musical opened at the Southwark Playhouse with Claire-Marie Hall replacing Rory Furey-King on The Little stage from 4 to 11 January 2020. A run was scheduled at Southwark Playhouse's The Large stage from 14 to 23 May 2020, however due to the COVID-19 pandemic it was postponed. The run eventually began on 23 July 2021, where it was originally due to run until 7 August, however due to popular demand it was extended to 18 September. The musical ran for a final time at Southwark Playhouse from 14 January to 19 February 2022.
The musical's final Off-West End run opened at the Riverside Studios from 28 April to 23 July 2022. For the Riverside Studios run, Seán Carey temporarily replaced David Cummings, who broke his collarbone 10 days before opening; he returned on 18 June 2022.
West End (2023–present)