Operation Mincemeat at Theatre Royal, Nottingham: “God that’s brilliant” — theatre review
The show is based on the true WW2 story
Operation Mincemeat is one of the UK’s most popular musicals, with it being Olivier-award winning, as well as the best reviewed show in the West End.
We reviewed this show on its UK tour during its visit to Nottingham’s Theatre Royal on its press night. It’s currently touring until November 2026 (operationmincemeat.com) but, if you’re looking for tickets, be sure to be quick as they’re selling fast.
If you’re looking for July and August events in Nottingham, it’s on until August 1 (tickets from £28.50pp, trch.co.uk). For more reviews and guides, subscribe to receive our articles in your inbox for free.
Operation Mincemeat at Theatre Royal, Nottingham theatre review
★★★★
By Charlotte Brudenell
Photos by Matt Crockett
Operation Mincemeat is one of the UK’s hottest shows. Since its opening in the West End in 2023, after a short stint at the New Diorama Theatre in 2019, it’s gone on to have a successful Broadway run, multiple international tours and, now, a dazzling UK tour.
The Olivier and Tony award-winning show is based on a true story which occurred during the Second World War, where MI5 agents create a somewhat desperate scheme to trick the Nazis. To throw them off the scent of an invasion in Sicily, they create a plan to make them think they are invading Sardinia instead.
It’s truly a wonder how SpitLip, the group who created the musical, made such a serious operation into a funny, light-hearted show. I couldn’t stop giggling throughout, and I certainly believe this to be one of the most genius modern musicals written so far.
SpitLip, formed by David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts, wrote this show in the hope of creating a ‘big, dumb musical’. Using physical comedy – which is so perfectly curated – and a funky pop score, this musical goes down a treat. The music is reminiscent of a mash-up of Hamilton and Six, with plenty of British humour sprinkled throughout.
The cleverest part of the show must be the costume changes. The show only has five principle actors, who portray over 30 characters. While there are five core roles, the actors quickly swap hats and jackets to portray these different characters, and it’s done so seamlessly that it’s hard to believe the simplest changes of costume can be so effective. For example, to portray Adolf Hitler, a finger is placed in front of the nose to represent his infamous moustache.
Each actor was fantastic. It must take such skill to do any show, but this requires just that bit extra. Katy Ellis’ Ewen Montagu was just stunning. She was the standout for me. How she can so effortlessly embody the confident, arrogant co-leader of the operation was mesmerising, and she made what should be an unlikeable character my absolute favourite.
Jordan Pearson’s Hester Leggatt was also one for the books. His rendition of Dear Bill brought tears to my eyes, showing the hidden vulnerability of an uptight character. Meanwhile, Seán Carey as Cholmondeley embodied the awkward, nervous character so well. It was stunning when he switched into other characters; you could hardly tell it was the same person!
Jamie-Rose Monk’s flair for comedy is impeccable, especially as the ‘bafflingly sweaty’ Captain Haselden. Her comedic timing is perfect, and her line delivery is insane – whenever she was on stage, it was hard to keep a straight face. Finally, Charlotte Hanna-Williams was a wonderful Jean Leslie.
She expertly portrays the struggle of being a woman during this period, wanting so desperately to be successful but being restrained by society. She shows that resilience and perseverance can lead to great success, even if it means getting ‘no medals, no flowers for Hester and Jean.’ But she shows so wonderfully how useful women can be.
Another thing I absolutely love about this show is that gender doesn’t limit anyone. Every actor plays both male and female roles, and it makes the audience realise that it doesn’t matter what the actor identifies as – they will absolutely embody the character they are playing regardless. I believe this is a great move for theatre going forward, as it shows theatre should have no limits.
The only disappointing aspect of the show is the struggles with sound throughout. This is no fault of the actors or anything like that – I think it’s just one of those things many touring companies struggle with when playing in new theatres. During harmonies of songs and when singing overlapped in songs like Just for Tonight, it was extremely difficult to figure out what everyone was saying as some voices overpowered others.
I feel as though it should be taken into consideration that, when there are some voices stronger than others, they should accommodate this to let everyone shine through as intended. As well as this, some of the dancing in songs like All the Ladies felt unsynchronised, when it was a necessity for them to all dance in time.
Aside from this, it is fair to say that this show is truly incredible. I was captivated the entire time. I was watching a history lesson, comedy and musical all at once. I truly cannot recommend this musical enough. The cast really makes this show, and their endless talent baffles me in all the best ways.
It deserves all the awards it has already received, and I think (and hope) it will lead to a lot more musicals in this style. I cannot wait to see what this group creates next. To have this as the debut show for this version of the ensemble is amazing – and I’m sure their next shows will be just as great or even better. As the second show from the musical says… God that’s brilliant.
Operation Mincemeat is playing at the Theatre Royal in Nottingham until August 1 (trch.co.uk) and is currently travelling the country until November 2026 (operationmincemeat.com).
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