The 2025 Tony® Award nominee for Best Musical and 2024 Olivier Award® winner for Best New Musical Operation Mincemeat comes to Northampton’s Royal & Derngate this summer, from Monday 13 to Saturday 18 July, as part of a landmark world tour.
In Operation Mincemeat, it’s 1943, and the Allied Forces are on the ropes. Luckily, they’ve got a trick up their sleeve. Well, not up their sleeve, per se, but rather inside the pocket of a stolen corpse. 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.
Reprising their acclaimed roles for the tour, West End alumnae Christian Andrews (Sherlock Holmes and the 12 Days of Christmas), Seán Carey (The Play That Goes Wrong), Charlotte Hanna-Williams (Rogers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella), and Holly Sumpton (Lovers Actually) are joined by new recruit Jamie-Rose Monk ((the) Woman) to form the cast, while Katy Ellis (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Georgina Hagen (Only Fools & Horses The Musical), Jordan Pearson (One Man, Two Guvnors), and Morgan Phillips (The History Boys) complete the company.
SpitLip, the musical’s writers and composers, commented: “We couldn’t be more grateful for every unpredictable twist of this astonishing journey. Most of all, we wish to thank the audiences who continue to carry this show with love and enthusiasm. Operation Mincemeat reminds us that in uncertain times, the bonds between allies are more important than ever – and that message feels especially relevant as we consider all the great nations in which our show will now have the opportunity to play. This show continues to be the adventure of a lifetime, and we’re wildly excited about what’s to come.”
Directed by Robert Hastie, Operation Mincemeat began performances on Broadway in February 2025and is now playing at the historic Golden Theatre (252 West 45th Street), as well as continuing its West End run.
The decision to write the musical was the last roll of the dice from the quartet of young British creatives after years of performing sketch shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and echoes the journey of Beyond the Fringe from the world-famous quartet Alan Bennett, Peter Cook, Jonathan Miller, and Dudley Moore, which premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1960 before moving to the Fortune Theatre and later to the Golden in 1962.
Operation Mincemeat began as a tiny (and tiny-budgeted) production at London’s New Diorama Theatre. The show quickly gained a devoted following, spurring sold-out runs at venues including Southwark Playhouse and Riverside Studios. It finally premiered in the West End on 9 May, 2023, at the Fortune Theatre, where it has since received 113 five-star reviews and counting, becoming ‘the Best Reviewed Show in West End History.’ Now in its fourth year, the show has built one of London’s most passionate fanbases, affectionately known as the “Mincefluencers.”
Operation Mincemeat has been nominated for 67 awards since opening at the 77-seat New Diorama Theatre in 2019, winning 25, including Best Musical four times, including the Olivier Awards®, WhatsOnStage Awards, and Off-West End Awards. On Broadway, the show was nominated for 4 Tony Awards® in 2025 with Jak Malone winning Best Featured Actor in a Musical having previously also won the Olivier Award® in the same category.
The smash hit musical takes to the Derngate stage from Monday 13 to Saturday 18 July 2026, and can be booked online at www.royalandderngate.co.uk/operation-mincemeat or by calling Box Office on 01604 624811.
Following the UK leg of the world tour, Operation Mincemeat will travel across four continents, with stops including the USA, Australia, Canada, China, Mexico and New Zealand.