Thursday, April 2

Tag: Operation Mincemeat

Operation Mincemeat – Wolverhampton Grand
West Midlands

Operation Mincemeat – Wolverhampton Grand

“Helsinki!” It seems diversion, deception and misdirection are the mainstay of world politics and a swift scroll through todays newsfeeds uncovers a strew of devices and ploys employed by the most powerful people (mostly men) in the world to distract the same world from uncovering their doings. I think you know who I mean without naming names. So, it’ll come as no surprise people (mostly men) throughout history have been doing the same and in tonight’s case we’re looking at the British deception operation in World War Two intended to disguise the 1943 invasion of Italy. I’m not sure how you disguise an invasion. It surely must be very noisy. Apparently, it involves the body of tramp dressed as a royal marine, loaded with fake ID, fake info, fake uniform and, yes, fake news. This vers...
Operation Mincemeat – The Lowry
North West

Operation Mincemeat – The Lowry

Back in April 2023, my daughter and I were in London’s theatre-land, seeking something cheerful and light after enduring a four-hour production of A Little Life — a play that had left us both in a numbly depressed state. A tiny show had just opened at the Fortune Theatre, just off Covent Garden, and we decided to take a risk on some cheap, last-minute tickets. It turned out to be a very wise decision. The show was Operation Mincemeat and, in the ensuing three years, it has garnered universal audience adoration, five-star reviews galore, continued success in the West End, and a Broadway transfer with resulting Tony and Olivier Awards recognition. The next step in its seemingly inexorable rise is a world tour, which kicks off with a glitzy “yellow carpet” premiere in Salford — cementing i...
Operation Mincemeat – Fortune Theatre
London

Operation Mincemeat – Fortune Theatre

A dead man, a newt obsession, and a birthday. If you’re looking for a camp, overambitious comedic production, then Operation Mincemeat is just for you. As long as you’re fine with being cramped into tiny seats and potentially having knees in the back of your head for the entire production. The Fortune Theatre has long been a theatre that has a love-hate reaction with punters, some adore it, some despise it. Sitting in the second row of the upper circle, the view would be expected to be clear, albeit slightly high up, however the safety rail completely blocks the entire centre line of the stage, and your neck can only handle so much craning – especially when your legs are in your chest and leaning back a fraction would have your head in the lap of the person behind you. Aside fr...
Operation Mincemeat – Southwark Playhouse
London

Operation Mincemeat – Southwark Playhouse

One of the craziest true stories in Britain’s history, ‘Operation Mincemeat’ was a wartime deception that somehow successfully fooled Hitler into changing his invasion plans in 1943, and all thanks to the well-dressed corpse of a homeless man who’d died by ingesting rat poison and was shipped off to Spain with a briefcase full of fabricated documents. Production company SpitLip got their hands on this fascinating historical nugget, thought “that would make a great musical”, threw in some ‘Monty Python’-style shenanigans alongside the catchy tunes, and the result is a brilliantly entertaining show that is playing right now at the Southwark Playhouse, after enjoying successful runs in 2020 and 2021 following its 2019 debut at the New Diorama Theatre.  ‘Operation Mincemeat’ is the ...