Laughter, history, pin striped suits and a terribly proper British diction mingle to create the Olivier and Tony Award-winning musical Operation Mincemeat, currently on a landmark global tour, with an extended run in London’s West End and on Broadway.
It is 1943. The war is at a turning point. Britain’s finest, a gloriously eccentric collection of intelligence officers, bureaucrats and at least one future household name have hatched a plan so delightfully absurd, and so fundamentally British that it could only have been dreamed up in a Whitehall basement over a very strong cup of Typhoo Tea. Yet, against all reasonable odds, it worked spectacularly.
This award-winning musical tells the true story of a WW2 covert operation so improbable that audiences leave the theatre shaking their heads in disbelief while at the same time wiping tears of laughter from their cheeks. The group of MI5 operatives devised a plan to trick Nazi High Command at one of the most critical moments of the war. British intelligence needed a miracle of deception and what they came up with was something no novelist would dare invent. But rather than reveal the plot here, the details are best discovered on stage. It’s one that is worth highlighting as it saved tens of thousands of lives, and it involved one of the most unlikely heroes in military history.
It’s told through gender-blind casting and a mix of genres, from musical ballads to rap and sea shanties. Expect equal parts farce, thriller, and Ian Fleming-style spy caper, with an assist from Mr. Fleming himself. Operation Mincemeat tells the wildly improbable and hilarious true story of the covert operation that turned the tide of WWII. It’s very funny, energetic and engaging – an excellent performance I highly recommend.
The musical began at a fringe theatre but has since grown into a global hit. In the West End it is a double Olivier Award-winning musical, including the award for Best New Musical 2024, and is currently on its 18th extension having just celebrated its 1,000th show at the Fortune Theatre. Last year it opened on Broadway and consequently won a Tony Award from four nominations.
The show is on a global tour, currently journeying across the UK as part of its 40-week UK leg, soon followed by stops including the US, Canada, Australia and China. In London, Operation Mincemeat has extended booking until 20th February 2027. Simultaneously it is on tour across the UK and running in New York, having confirmed its eighth extension at the John Golden Theatre, with performances booking through 17th January 2027. Earlier this year, the show sold its one millionth ticket.
The production is directed by 2023 Olivier Award-nominated Robert Hastie (Standing at the Sky’s Edge, National Theatre in 2023 and Best New Musical Olivier Award winner). Since premiering at London’s New Diorama Theatre in 2019, the show has been nominated for 68 awards and won 24, including Best Musical four times at the Olivier Awards, WhatsOnStage Awards, Broadway World Theatre Fans’ Choice Awards, and Off West End Awards.
Operation Mincemeat is produced in the West End, on tour, and on Broadway by Avalon in association with SpitLip. The show was commissioned by New Diorama Theatre, co-commissioned by The Lowry, and supported by the Rhinebeck Writers Retreat.
Highly critically acclaimed, it’s a British success story. The show features in top theatre picks across most of the national press and, due to its continued success, keeps on being extended. Worthy praise indeed and written in terribly proper British prose.
Tickets on sale at www.operationmincemeat.com
Playing at the West End’s Fortune Theatre, Russell Street in London which is situated just off Drury Lane and Covent Garden.
