Review: Operation Mincemeat (Touring)

Tuesday 2nd June 2026 at the Grand Theatre and Opera House, York

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I love it when I can see a show and say this most definitely lives up to the hype. So, I went to see Operation Mincemeat, and let me tell you: it lives up to the hype! It’s so blummin’ delicious, this one. Fast-paced, clever, thrilling to watch and very, very funny. 

Book, music and lyrics from co-creators David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodson and Zoë Rogers are bright and shiny without let-up. In its current form, a few years after debuting at Edinburgh Fringe, the sharpness of the script and humour is well and truly picked up in the staging (set and costume: Ben Stones; Lighting: Mark Henderson; Sound: Mike Walker) and direction from Robert Hastie. In particular, segues between scenes which see the cast moving between characters, costumes, locations, tone and atmosphere are an absolute highlight, bringing that self-aware theatrical glory to the stage in a way that just elevates the entire production.

But what’s the story? Well, it’s supposed to be a bit lock-and-key, but it’s a war-time romp (yes, but not like Dad’s Army, oh no). A cracking team are helping the war effort in their own whacky ways – and what a cast carrying the tale! Triple threat wonders, the lot of them. It’s a gift of a show too, when it comes to giving actors scope to peacock their way to thunderous audience approval. Seán Carey deserves awards for sheer pace alone, not to mention nailing so many varied roles. Jamie-Rose Monk is superb, tickling as fools just as well as raging boss types, while Charlotte Hanna-Williams brings both subtlety and boldness across characters. 

Christian Andrews and Holly Sumpton are particularly impressive in their flair and the sheer number of roles so meticulously handled – Andrews with a staggering range including moments of pathos and softness alongside eccentric mania; Sumpton with the kind of effortless and magnetic presence that a show can really lean on when seeking big, consistent laughs. Multi-rolling to perfection – and often at bewildering pace, it’s a wonder this talented bunch don’t get nightly whip-lash…

There are hints of other beloved titans in the world of musical theatre I think, with the free-flowing rapid narration style of Hamilton, the sardonic wit and towering ego of The Book of Mormon and the (brilliantly placed) sass of Six, particularly in the second act numbers. And that’s all secondary to the creator’s brilliant take on spiffing British hi-jinx tales of course – something that really makes the sarcasm and dead-pan,  meta one-liners really sing (not to mention the Victoria Wood-esque observational zingers).

Jenny Arnold’s choreography is just as clever and precise, drawing on classic Broadway moves and a whole host of musical styles as the story hurtles through places and times. Musical highlights are many, including the wild and bouncy “God That’s Brilliant”, “Making a Man” and “Act As If” as well as gentler numbers which give the show flashes of real heart, like “Dear Bill” and “Sail on Boys”. And let’s just say, “A Glitzy Finale” is in a class of its own.

Look, let’s not mince any more words; I loved it. I haven’t been so impressed with a show in a long while, and it’s a thrill and a delight to sit in awe of something so wonderfully joyous and clever finding its way onto a stage. Fingers crossed for more theatre of this calibre! 

Operation Mincemeat is at the Grand Theatre and Opera House, York until June 6th 2026 – more information and tickets can be found here.

P.S: here’s some uninvited trivia: it took me a hot minute to realise, but once upon a time in 2016, I saw a brilliantly bonkers show at Harrogate Theatre. It was by a company called Kill the Beast and it was called The Damp is Rising. That show came from the very same brains that made this one, and once I’d clicked, it was all there – those cracking markers of creative genius from 10 years ago… I distinctly remember the wildness and pace of The Damp is Rising, and how often it had me in stitches (I can still hear the title song rolling around my head somewhere in fact). It’s never less than wonderful seeing talented creators of relatively small scale shows get their time on bigger stages, eh?