Operation Mincemeat: The Musical – Review – Grand Opera House, York
By Karl Hornsey, June 2026
Anyone familiar with the remarkable and hare-brained plan – codenamed Operation Mincemeat – that helped turn the tide during the Second World War and allowed the Allies to regain a foothold in Europe will be well aware that it sums up the expression ‘truth is stranger than fiction’. This wonderful and unforgettable musical version of the story takes it to even more madcap heights, creating a production that simply has to be seen to be believed.
The brainchild of David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoe Roberts, Operation Mincemeat began its musical life back in 2019 with an opening production in an 80-seater studio. In the here and now, its stay in York is part of a UK-wide tour, having already become a West End and Broadway smash, and it’s easy to see how this astonishing blend of farce, espionage, dark humour and, crucially, emotion borne out of tragedy, has become such a hit.
“All-action”
To turn the story into a musical takes an amazing selection of minds, thinking differently to achieve their goals – rather poetic when that’s how the real-life tale came about in 1943 when, faced with a seemingly impossible conundrum, MI5 operative Charles Cholmondeley came up with a plan so ridiculous, so contrived and so completely convoluted that it managed to fool the German top brass so successfully for it to change history. Then, it took the inquisitive mind of author and journalist Ben McIntyre to sift through a huge release of previously classified documents to bring the story to life and to the knowledge of the wider world, after it had lain dormant for generations, other than in the 1956 film The Man Who Never Was.
Despite the rave reviews and word-of-mouth that this was a must-see, I still struggled to comprehend how this could possibly be turned into a musical. I’m pleased to say that I was proven wrong within minutes, as a high-energy, all-action beginning settles down to tell the tale, with the five-strong cast immediately approaching their multiple roles with gusto and an energy that somehow lasts for their two-and-a-bit hours on stage.
The farcical elements are a sight to behold, helped by men playing women and women playing men, with Sean Carey, Christian Andrews, Charlotte Hanna-Williams, Holly Sumpton and Jamie-Rose Monk not putting a foot wrong all evening, including in navigating the multitude of scenery and costume changes. The five bring the story to life, through their portrayals of Cholmondeley, Hester Leggatt, Jean Leslie, Ewen Montagu and Johnny Bevan, dealing equally as well with high farce as they do with some of the more serious and emotional scenes.
image: Phil Tragen
“Inventive”
In fact, this is a huge reason why this production works so well – it never forgets that at the heart of this story were real-life, ordinary people doing real-life ordinary things in the most difficult of times and, despite the showpiece numbers and comedy, the darkest of moments haven’t been forgotten. The ‘Dear Bill’ letter towards the end of the first act must have brought a lump to the throat of everyone in the house, so powerful and moving that you could hear a pin drop as Andrews delivered it, while it was wonderful that tribute was paid at the end to the ‘man who never was’, whose identity has, thankfully, gradually come to the light over the years.
With some incredibly creative songs and set-pieces, inventive stage creations, scenery and props, this really is an absolute must-see, with further dates in Yorkshire to come. It’s a fitting tribute to a ‘terribly British’ solution and story and, as well being ridiculously clever and entertaining, if it continues to educate people as to the often unknown deeds done by genuine unsung heroes, then all the better as well.
Operation Mincemeat: The Musical is at Grand Opera House, York until 6th June
Top and bottom images: Matt Crockett
Karl’s love of writing was piqued at the age of eight, when he won a Blue Peter badge in an essay-writing competition. The location of said badge might be a mystery now, but the memory never fades. Hours spent writing about sport as a teenager, in pre-internet years when you had to make your entertainment, honed his skills, and Karl has worked in TV and radio listings at PA Media for 28 years, and the age of hybrid working means 50% of that can be at home listening to Classic FM and thinking about his next visit to his beloved Yorkshire Dales.
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