(L-R) Charlotte Fleming, Madeleine Jackson-Smith, Colm Gleeson, Ahmed Hamad and Chlöe Hart in Operation Mincemeat at the Fortune Theatre, London. Picture: Matt Crockett
Operation Mincemeat continues at the Fortune Theatre, London.
Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
There is rarely a show that you can recommend to everyone. Sat in the audience of almost any theatre, you can usually think of someone you wouldn’t want next to you, because they wouldn’t like some of it: too fast, too slow, too sexy, too sweary – it could be anything. Now in its fourth year, Operation Mincemeat remains the exception; it is a jack-of-all-trades and a master of every one of them; a crowd-pleaser that never dumbs down.
The balance of the thing is probably its greatest marvel. Mincemeat manages to be one of the funniest shows in London, washed down with startling doses of properly moving pathos.
It often feels as if authors David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts were constantly writing to challenge the limits of disbelief.
‘Can we really make an audience emotionally connect with a quietly tragic wartime secretary, and not be distracted by the performer in question being a well-built six-foot man in horn-rimmed spectacles and lacy cuffs?’ As it turns out: yes, they can. And next, he’ll be a camp, glitter-blood-spattered dodgy coroner and you won’t bat an eyelid.
Of course, this is as much a testament to the exceptional production design and stellar performances from a cast of five that feel like 50. Freshly recruited Colm Gleeson (of the aforementioned glasses and glitter) rises brilliantly to the show’s most challenging role. Meanwhile, the two other new faces, Ahmed Hamad and Charlotte Fleming, seem like seasoned, honed performers on only their first nights in-role.
It is a delight to see Chlöe Hart continue to deliver some of the best comedy you’ll find on stage and Madeleine Jackson-Smith frankly makes it difficult to imagine how the show can ever work without her.
It would be easy to say much, much more – the choreography, costuming, lights, instruments – but, to be honest, you should just go and see it. I mean it. Go on. Yes, now.
Tom Martland
SHARE THIS POST:
Comments are closed.