You couldn’t write it.

But thank goodness someone did, both in terms of the original source and idea, and some 70-odd years later, when, in 2019, some clever creatives decided to turn an incredible tale into an art form.

This production could have let the annals of history do the heavy lifting. It could have let the fantastical detail involved be enough to carry it through. But it does oh so much more.

Operation Mincemeat was the 2024 Olivier Award-winning Best New Musical, London’s biggest hit with 88 Five-Star reviews*, making it the best-reviewed show in West End history and is now a Tony Award®-winning musical on Broadway.

And now here we are as the national tour kicks off in Salford.

And not only that, with a homecoming of sorts. The show began life in the upstairs Aldridge Studio, in a 15 minute performance in front of 80 people by writers SpitLip (David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoe Roberts, who developed their skills through Lowry’s artist development programme.

Good, eh?

And in the week that was, which gave us news headlines pertaining to suspicion of misconduct in public office and the somewhat ‘carelessness’ around government information, it feels topical to be stepping into the telling of somewhat adjacent (but much more honourable) activity.

The year is 1943 and right now we’re losing the war. Luckily, we’re about to gamble all our futures on a stolen corpse. Singin’ in the Rain meets Strangers on a Train, Operation Mincemeat is the fast-paced, hilarious and unbelievable true story of the twisted secret mission that won us World War II.  Bursting at the seams with the kind of chaos you couldn’t invent, the question is: how did a dead body, a fake love letter, and – of all people – Ian Fleming come together to wrong-foot Hitler?

Operation Mincemeat tells the story of the Twenty Committee, (so named from the Roman numerals XX – double-cross – get it?) established by MI5 to manage the double-agents spying for Britain during WWII. In a plan that involved dumping a dead body in German waters as bait, with a fake persona, carrying fake Allied military plans to invade Sardinia (instead of the intended Sicily), it was so ridiculous, it might just work. And so it did.

And so to the show.

With the actual people involved in the mission, characterised in this offbeat musical, it was art literally imitating life, but with an ear-worm soundtrack, enough outfit changes to outdo myself when getting ready for an unremarkable trip out accompanied by a delusional mindset of ‘I have nothing to wear; and a bitingly funny, laugh out loud (I may have guffawed) script, Operation Mincemeat is the gift I didn’t know I needed.

Ewen Montagu (Holly Sumpton), Charles Cholmondeley (Sean Carey), Johnny Bevan (Jamie-Rose Monk), Hester Leggatt (Christian Andrews) and Jean Leslie (Charlotte Hanna-Williams) and even a depiction of one Ian Fleming, another member of the committee), these real life inspirations were camped up, cranked up, choreographed and caricatured by the brilliant cast, but with respect, great affection and a comedic overhaul, with performances as extra as the original plan itself.

Think Springtime for Hitler (The Producers), meets Fawlty Towers, meets Casablanca, meets Monty Python.

If you can.

Broken record alert – I don’t look forward to musicals. But this is more Book of Mormon than Mary Poppins, with a second-half Nazi street dance as a curtain-raiser.

Not to sound too Brucie (rest in peace), but whilst they were all my favourite, Christian Andrews in the role as Hester Leggatt and others (including the campest, most sinister coroner one will ever chance to meet), was a little bit more.

Sequins, high-kicks, secrets, spies and showgirls, such is my thrill from last night’s show, I’m caught in a spiral of wanting to relive and share my experience beyond these meagre words. The rousing standing ovation showed I wasn’t alone in my revelry.

It’s witty, it’s funny sometimes sentimental and it more than lives upto its hype. And with an original musical catalogue which includes corkers such as, ‘God that’s brilliant’, ‘A Glitzy Finale’, and the surprisingly heartstring-pulling ‘Dear Bill’ (I’m not crying), make it your mission to see Operation Mincemeat.

Operation Mincemeat is at Lowry theatre until this Saturday 28 February. For more details on the mission, the musical, tickets and performances, visit Operation Mincemeat | Lowry

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Production credits: Matt Crockett

*I don’t tend to give star ratings to reviews, letting the words literally tell the story. But if I did, this one would be a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. But don’t tell anyone.