"It's not just the best musical I've ever seen; it's the most rewarding theatrical experience I've ever had"
Taffy Brodesser-Akner, The New York Times
"A little show with a very big future."
David Benedict, Variety
"One of British theatre's great success stories... both spiffingly funny, in a Monty Python-esque fashion, and really quite moving"
Hugh Montgomery, Metro
"the perfect mix of ingenious, silly and moving... the Olivier Award-winning musical about the wartime operation is as terrific as ever"
★★★★★
Marianka Swain, The Telegraph
"A miraculous musical that tells the entire story in a kind of accelerated farce that is part Mel Brooks, part SIX, part Hamilton with a side order of One Man, Two Guvnors."
★★★★★
Neil Norman, The Daily Mirror
"The Brits have made the year's funniest musical...Against the odds, the "Operation Mincemeat" gang has found its way to the big time."
Peter Marks, The Washington Post
181 ★★★★★ reviews and counting
Following more than 290,000 tickets sold and over 20 weeks of sold-out performances, the Tony® and double Olivier Award®-winning hit musical Operation Mincemeat has announced an extension to the UK leg of its world tour, following phenomenal demand.
The tour opened with two sold-out weeks at the 1,700-seat Lowry in Salford, playing to its largest audiences yet at the theatre that first encouraged Tony and Olivier Award®-nominated writers SpitLip to create their extraordinary debut musical. The first leg will conclude on 28 November following 304 performances.
Along the way, the tour has welcomed Joseph Kavanaugh, who has now seen the production more than 100 times after winning one of five Golden Tickets issued to celebrate Operation Mincemeat selling its one millionth ticket earlier this year. The prize gives him free, unlimited access to the musical anytime, anywhere in the world, for life.
The second UK leg will begin in Dartford in February 2027 and tour for 36 weeks, visiting new destinations including Belfast and Dublin, as well as Liverpool, Blackpool, Leicester and more.
The announcement comes as the world tour continues its international journey, with the North American leg launching on 20 September at the Providence Performing Arts Center in Rhode Island, before travelling to Australia, China, Mexico and New Zealand and spanning four continents.
Alongside the world tour, Operation Mincemeat continues its West End run at the Fortune Theatre, following its recently announced 19th extension through to 29 May 2027 and into its fifth year. Meanwhile, the Broadway production at the Golden Theatre, following its 10th extension announced today through to 14 March 2027, enters its third year.
ATG+ Presale tickets for the return to Milton Keynes Theatre go on sale at 10am Thursday 24 September, with general sale beginning at 10am on Friday 25 September.
The story
The year is 1943 and we're losing the war. Luckily, we're about to gamble all our futures on a stolen corpse.
Operation Mincemeat is the fast-paced, hilarious and unbelievable true story of the twisted secret mission that helped win the Allies' Second World War. The question is, how did a well-dressed corpse wrong-foot Hitler?
Operation Mincemeat began as a tiny, low-budget production at London's New Diorama Theatre in 2019. The show quickly developed a devoted following, leading to 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 won the Olivier and WhatsOnStage Awards® for 'Best New Musical', alongside earning 181 five-star reviews and counting. It has since become the 'Best reviewed show in West End history'.
Operation Mincemeat is written by Triple Tony Award® nominees SpitLip – David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts – and directed by Deputy Artistic Director at the National Theatre and Olivier Award-nominated Robert Hastie (Standing at the Sky's Edge, National Theatre – 2023 Best New Musical Olivier Award winner).
Since premiering at the 77-seat New Diorama Theatre in London in 2019, Operation Mincemeat has been nominated for 68 awards and won 24, including four Best Musical awards from the Olivier Awards®, WhatsOnStage Awards, BroadwayWorld Theater Fans' Choice Awards and Off West End Awards.
The Broadway production was nominated for four Tony Awards®, including Best Musical, and won Best Featured Actor in a Musical.
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 also supported by the Rhinebeck Writers Retreat.
