Review: Operation Mincemeat UK Tour, Glasgow | It really is brilliant
West End musical theatre smash hit Operation Mincemeat has set out on the UK leg of its world tour and has arrived in Glasgow this week. This is a musical that thankfully lives up to the hype. Operation Mincemeat plays at the Theatre Royal Glasgow until 14 November. Read my review of the tour production below.
Operation Mincemeat (UK Tour) ★★★★★
Review: 10 November 2026 | Theatre Royal, Glasgow
The best-reviewed show in West End history has embarked on the UK leg of its world tour riding on a wave of high expectations and major hype. Arriving in Glasgow this week, the UK tour production of Operation Mincemeat - the comedy musical about a very wild and very true British secret mission that fooled the Nazis and helped win World War II - is worthy of the many awards and accolades it has won to date.
In 1943, Britain's finest minds at MI5 are tasked with devising a plan to disguise the Allied invasion of Sicily. A group of intelligence agents led by exacting section head Johnny Bevan (Jamie-Rose Monk) come up with a plan code-named Operation Mincemeat that involves a dead body, a fake plane crash and a whole imagined love-life for a noble pilot-who never was.
Egotistical Ewen Montagu (a superb Holly Sumpton) champions the scheme alongside the awkward brains behind the operation, Charles Cholmondeley (Sean Carey). They are ably assisted by the ladies of the typing pool; the formidable senior secretary Hester Leggat (a divine Christian Andrews) and a new girl who's too clever just to make the tea, Jean (Charlotte Hanna-Williams).
The extraordinary cast of five play over eighty characters between them, multi-roleing, quick-changing and wearing multiple hats - literally - with such dexterity, their appearance behind large set pieces or at other locations on the stage in a completely different character to the one they were playing just two seconds ago, often comes as a brilliant surprise.
There's a fun running joke where Ian Fleming (Monk) makes several cameo appearances as a part-time MI5 agent eager to get his spy thriller about "James someone" off to the publishers while trying to talk British military intelligence into using more and more elaborate gadgets and schemes. There's the gloriously nefarious coroner Bernard Spilsbury (Andrews) and hapless "man on the ground in Spain" Haseleden (Monk).
Holly Sumpton shines as the arrogant Ewen Montagu, a role she played in the West End. While Christian Andrews transforms before our eyes when playing Hester, the older lady and redoubtable head of the secretarial pool. His posture changes, and he fully becomes this glorious character.
Created by comedy group SpitLip (David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoe Roberts), and known for the catchphrase "God, that's brilliant!" Operation Mincemeat is a fast-paced, quick-talking, intelligent show full of remarkable true historical facts told through well-developed, memorable characters. It excels as a piece of musical theatre because the true story at the heart of the book is fascinating, and it's told with such well-judged, tongue-in-cheek humour and skill as to be completely absorbing.
As well as having a brilliant book, Operation Mincemeat is bursting with genuinely excellent musical theatre songs, with the varied pop-led music and lyrics also all written by SpitLip.
The infectious opening number 'Born to Lead' sets the scene and tone for the show, while 'Making A Man' is a ridiculously catchy song that expertly showcases just how to inject a song into a piece of theatre while also progressing the plot.
'Sail on, Boys' is a haunting, poignant sea-shanty, while the signature ballad "Dear Bill" is one of the most beautifully realised pieces of musical theatre of modern times. There's even a fully choreographed (Jenny Arnold), darkly funny Nazi boyband routine dripping with satire, "Das Übermensch." The variety and talent on display are mind-blowing.
While the comedy in Operation Mincemeat does fall over into farce at times, and that may not be everyone's cup of tea, it is undeniably entertaining, expertly choreographed farce. The creative team do a remarkable job of honouring the history and respecting the people involved, while also poking fun in all the right places.
Operation Mincemeat grew from a fringe show, but now, with Ben Stone's deceptively simple, creative set and costumes, and Mark Henderson's intricate, impeccably timed lighting design, it boasts impressive production values. The visuals become more elaborate and more unhinged as the show progresses, but the energy of the cast never wanes as they lead us to the wonderful "glitzy finale".
Every aspect of Operation Mincemeat, from the set to the costumes, is multi-layered, and there's a surprising number of sequins. This is a musical that lives up to its catchphrase.
Beautifully balanced, expertly judged and thoroughly entertaining, Operation Mincemeat really is brilliant. ★★★★★
Operation Mincemeat is at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow until Saturday 14 November 2026
It then returns to Scotland in 2027 with dates in Edinburgh at the King's Theatre from 29 June to 3 July, and the Theatre Royal Glasgow from 6 to 10 July.
MORE: Also playing in Glasgow this week: Tony Roper's The Steamie is at the King's Theatre. Read my review here
MORE: Find the Operation Mincemeat full UK tour cast announcement here https://www.lisainthetheatre.com/post/operation-mincemeat-tour-cast
MORE: Also playing in Glasgow this week: Making Way at A Play, A Pie and A Pint. Read my review here
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