MK Theatre: Operation Mincemeat
Rating: ★★★★
Running Dates: Monday 9th June - Saturday 13th June
Where to see it: Milton Keynes Theatre
Duration: 2 hours 20minutes (incl. interval)
Operation Mincemeat might be one of the most Chaotic musicals I’ve seen in a while and we think that’s why it works.
Summary
We never would have thought an educational, heartfelt yet historic topic could fall into place so well with a musical, but Operation Mincemeat, which has just arrived in Milton Keynes has proved that. 5 people, that’s all it took, to build an incredible show to tell the important true story of the WW2 British Deception Operation to trick Hitler.
This award-winning musical is based on the title, Operation Mincemeat. It’s 1943, and MI5 is tasked to come up with a compelling idea to change WW2. This led to the British Deception operation led by Ewen Montagu(Played by Ewen Montagu) and Charles Cholmondeley (Played by Sean Carey)that tricked Hitler. This not only tells the story of the deceiving mission but the story of togetherness, team building and the recognition of women in the workforce, a perfect watch for City Girls.
Review
We went in blind, not knowing what to expect, and not watching the film; it didn’t give us many expectations. This split-second scene-changing performance was something that absolutely blew us away, absolutely outstanding work by the performers and everyone involved in production.
Act 1 eases you into the world of the mission, introducing each character and the role they play in Operation Mincemeat. The humour is light and witty, and the show mixes comedy with surprisingly accurate historical detail. We’ll be honest, some parts of the first half took a moment to settle into, especially the music. It’s always harder to connect with songs you’re hearing for the first time.
The standout performers early on were Hester Leggatt (and others) played by Christian Andrews, and Ewen Montagu (and others) played by Holly Sumpton. They carried a lot of the energy in the opening stretch. Towards the end of Act 1, you could feel the shift as the rest of the cast really came into their own, especially Charles Cholmondeley (and others) played by Sean Carey, Jean Leslie played by Charlotte Hanna‑Williams, and Johnny Bevan played by Jamie‑Rose Monk. That’s when the act really started to take off.
The start of Act 2 had us giggling, and we quote ‘What is happening’, but it just made sense. The frantic action was already in part; we knew it was bound to be more chaotic, but it truly was a mood booster, they had the audience cackling whilst keeping us educated in the importance of this operation.
The quite literally split-seconds of costume and scene changes made this an immersive yet loud performance, sometimes distracting us from the story and the songs itself but all in all an enjoyable performance and one we feel should be seen even just once!
See If: You enjoy watching whitty, chaotic musicals
Most Memorable Part: We are still not over that performance, which was 5 people when it felt like it should have been 50 people
You can purchase tickets for Operation Mincemeat at MK Theatre here.
Written by Charlotte Moyle
These were gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review.
