Operation Mincemeat first took shape as a small production at London’s Fringe New Diorama Theatre in 2019. The show quickly developed a devoted following, leading to sold-out runs at venues like Southwark Playhouse and Riverside Studios.
Its growing popularity paved the way for its West End premiere at the Fortune Theatre on 9 May 2023. Since then, the musical has gone from strength to strength, winning Best Musical at the Olivier Awards®, WhatsOnStage Awards, and Off-West End Awards. To date, the production has earned 64 nominations, claimed 13 awards, and received an impressive 75 five-star reviews.
Operation Mincemeat is based on an astonishing true story from 1943 where a group of eccentric British intelligence officers hatch an audacious plan to outwit the Nazis and change the course of the war- they’ll use a corpse carrying fake secret documents to convince Hitler that the Allies will invade Greece instead of Sicily.
As they race against time to pull off their elaborate ruse—complete with forged letters, disguises, and outlandish cover stories—the unlikely spies must navigate bureaucracy, absurd obstacles, and their own insecurities, proving that sometimes the strangest ideas are the ones that save the world.
Ahmed Hamad (Sunset Boulevard, Standing at the Sky’s Edge), Charlotte Fleming* (Mrs Doubtfire) and Colm Gleeson (The Play That Goes Wrong) are the newest recruits to the Operation Mincemeat principal cast. They are joined by the return of Chloë Hart, who continues her role for a third year, and Madeleine Jackson-Smith, who initially took a hiatus from her Musical Theatre MA at the Royal Academy of Music to join the production as a cover role in the multi-rolling ensemble now taking on a principal role. Jason Kajdi is joined by Amy Parker (13 Going on 30), Benjamin Durham (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) and Molly Cutter (NewsRevue), completing the fourth West End company.
*Charlotte Fleming bears no relation to Ian Fleming, though the coincidence is warmly welcomed by the production.
Directed by Robert Hastie
Jenny Arnold as Choreographer
Ben Stones as Set and Costume Designer
Mark Henderson as Lighting Designer
Mike Walker as Sound Designer
Steve Sidwell is Orchestrator and Vocal Arranger
Joe Bunker is Musical Supervisor
Ben Cox is Musical Director
Amy Milburn is Associate Director
Paul Isaiah Isles is Associate Choreographer
Casting is by Pearson Casting
Written and composed by SpitLip – David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts.
Previous Cast members
2025/2026
Alex Young (Stranger Things: The First Shadow, Standing at the Sky’s Edge, Into the Woods) as Ewen Montague & Others
Danny Becker (Frozen, The Prince of Egypt, Chicago) as Hester Leggatt & Others
Peter McGovern (The History Boys, The Comedy About A Bank Robbery) as Charles Cholmondeley & Others
Roshani Abbey (Hamilton, &Juliet, Gypsy) as Jean Leslie & Others
Chlöe Hart (SIX, Fantasically Great Women Who Changed The World, Evita) as Johnny Bevan & Others.
