We’ve had an uncomfortable few years where Britain’s’ “blitz spirit” has been often invoked, often shabbily. Memories of that time are few and far between, and as a culture we’re relying more on interpretations and documents rather than the experiences of those who really were there.
Operation Black Door seeks to bring the audience right to the centre of Allied decision making and into stories based on the actual occurrences and mechanics of history without an overlayer of modern ideology. Produced by Imperial War Museums (who manage the Churchill War Rooms) and devised theatre ensemble Wet Picnic, this is a welcome, positive and accessible representation of the period that relies on the reality of the ideas themselves for its attraction.
It brings the War Rooms to life admirably, at times, by assigning visitors one of five separate storylines on arrival. From rooting out propagandists to uncovering spies, planning invasions and creating war-defining subterfuge there’s an intriguing variety on offer. It’s managed through an app which supports a conceit that we’re modern operatives seeking to better understand the past through tech that can help us engage with “echoes” of those that have gone before us in this space. Glamorously, we’re assigned to the “Intelligence” storyline. Unfortunately it means we’ve no insight into 80% of the overall production – a shame to miss out on the experience as well as the history the IWM is keen on exploring.
Focusing on the mental aspect of the war, Intelligence gamely evokes the planning for one of the Allies’ neatest deceptions – Operation Mincemeat. By planting false papers on a corpse and leaving it for the Axis powers to find, the Allies tricked their enemies into leaving Sicily’s defences weakened and was a key part of the early stages of the successful campaign in the Mediterranean. Pieces of this plan are revealed to the audience through an immersive and interactive wander through the corridors and corners of the War Rooms, solving clues and trying to fit in with the soldiers, typists, officers and other inhabitants of this underground world along the way.
The execution of such a fine idea reveals unfortunate cracks that the wartime contemporaries would surely have tutted at. Overly simplistic clues mean the fizzing build up to uncovering the information flattens, and repetition of information is a missed opportunity between missions one and two. Interaction with the cast as the “echoes” (especially the very normal, but very funny, naval intelligence officers) is a treat, however.
The accompanying app is likely very useful when it comes to keeping five narratives separately on course, but it’s distracting to use (headphones in, headphones out) and takes us away from engaging fully with the 1940s vibe everywhere else. A paper-based mechanic would have potentially done the job, kept us in the period, and maybe cut production costs right down. That last point coming to mind when considering the ticket price for an hour’s experience where we go through just a single storyline out of five – leaving us with an unsatisfied feeling as we wonder if the other storlines would actually have been more enjoyable than the one we get.
It’s wonderful to see the IWM getting inventive when it comes to education and engagement. It’s a smart use of this unique space. These two things notwithstanding, it’s a flawed production that frustratingly gets in the way of itself – neither dramatic or tense enough to reward a theatre-goer or detailed enough to reward a history-seeker.
Runs again 22-24 September 2022
