insideKENT Magazine Issue 159 - July 2025 | Page 34

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

OPERATION MINCEMEAT

THE MARLOWE THEATRE, CANTERBURY, 19- 23 MAY 2026 ORCHARD THEATRE, DARTFORD, 12- 17 OCT 2026
2025 TONY ® AWARD NOMINEE FOR BEST MUSICAL AND 2024 OLIVIER AWARD ® WINNER FOR BEST NEW MUSICAL, OPERATION MINCEMEAT ANNOUNCES LANDMARK WORLD TOUR WITH TWO KENTISH SHOWS!

in PREVIEW...

Following the award-winning production’ s third Broadway extension until 15 February 2026, and its fifteenth West End extension to 28 February 2026, Operation Mincemeat is set to embark on a landmark world tour. Commencing at the Lowry, Salford – the venue that first encouraged the Olivier Award ®-winning and Tony ®-nominated writing team to create their debut musical, co-commissioned the production and supported its early development, including hosting its first-ever scratch performance in 2017 – the tour will provide Kent with two opportunities to see the farcical thriller as the show comes to both The Marlowe in Canterbury and the Orchard Theatre in Dartford.

“ A little show with a very big future.”
VARIETY
In Operation Mincemeat, the year is 1943 and we’ re losing the war. Luckily, we’ re about to gamble all our futures on a stolen corpse. Singin’ in the Rain meets Strangers on a Train, Noel Coward meets Noel Fielding, Operation Mincemeat, equal parts farce,
thriller and Ian Fleming-style spy caper( with an assist from Mr. Fleming himself), tells the wildly improbable and hilarious true story of the covert operation that turned the tide of WWII. The question is, how did a welldressed corpse wrong-foot Hitler? Operation Mincemeat began as a tiny( and tiny-budgeted) production at London’ s New Diorama Theatre. The show quickly gained a devoted following, spurring sellout 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 has since received 74 five-star reviews and counting, becoming the best reviewed show in West End history. Now in its third sellout year, the show continues to play to standing-room-only crowds and has built one of London’ s most passionate fanbases, affectionately known as the‘ Mincefluencers’.
Operation Mincemeat has been nominated for 64 awards since opening at the 77-seat New Diorama Theatre in 2019, winning 13 including Best Musical three times from the Olivier Awards ®, WhatsOnStage Awards and Off-West End Awards. On Broadway, the show is nominated for four Tony Awards ® in 2025 including Best Musical and Best Featured Actor in
a Musical for Jak Malone, who previously won the Olivier Award ® in the same category. The production has also received nominations for Outstanding Production of a Musical at the Drama League Awards, Outstanding New Broadway Musical at the Outer Critics Circle Awards, Best Musical at the BroadwayWorld Theater Fans’ Choice Awards and Favourite New Musical at the broadway. com Audience Choice Awards.
Commenting on the world tour, SpitLip, the musical’ s writers and composers, said:“ Broadway opened the literal world to us, and we couldn’ t be more grateful for every unpredictable twist of this astonishing journey. Most of all, we wish to thank the audiences who continue to carry this show with love and enthusiasm. Operation Mincemeat reminds us that in uncertain times, the bonds between allies are more important than ever- and that message feels especially relevant as we consider all the great nations in which our show will now have the opportunity to play. This show continues to be the adventure of a lifetime and we’ re wildly excited about what’ s to come.”
marlowetheatre. com marlowetheatre
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