On Wednesday I went to see The Book of Mormon – I find it helps to have seen something you are reviewing – and I must say that I was deeply offended. The show includes what are now regarded as taboo subjects, racism, FGM, bad language, blasphemy, sex and all manner of suggestive dancing. I was absolutely fine with that, what really offended me was the number of people who warned me that I would be offended. I must have a sit down and examine the image I project, if the people who I thought knew me, are under the impression that I have spent the last 76 years in a monastery or, worse still, reading the Daily Mail. FYI, I have been having a blast, and could easily have added an extra scene or two to the production.
Part of that blast was in 1989, when I took a road trip along the Pacific Highway from San Diego to San Francisco and back via Zion National Park. My first thought on crossing the state line into Utah, was that I had better drive carefully because if I have an accident I won’t be given a blood transfusion. It then struck me that I might be confusing Mormons with Jehovah’s Witnesses, and what they really don’t do is drink coffee, tea or alcohol, nor have sex outside of marriage. Screw this, I thought as I floored the gas pedal, and headed into Nevada and the much more civilised settlement of Las Vegas. I will leave it there as, what happens in Vegas……
The story is pretty straightforward in that it charts the history of the Mormon religion from 1823, when its founder, Joseph Smith was visited by an angel and told about some golden tablets, surprisingly, under the circumstances, not the kind you take in the club with a huge swig of water, but the Moses on Mount Sinai variety, which were buried in Palmyra in Upstate New York, by a prophet, Moroni so they could have easily been called The Book of Morons. The Book of Mormon is the translation of the tablets onto paper, thus acting as their bible.
It is also rumoured that Jesus visited the area between his resurrection and ascension. It was couple of thousand years too early to catch a Buffalo Bills game, unless they were playing the Saints, or a Springsteen gig. Glory Days!
In 1847 Brigham Young, the new leader, moved the HQ west to Salt Lake City, Utah, obviously giving Sin City a wide berth. In 1932 the first Missionary Training Classes were held, possibly coinciding with the invention of the electric door bell as the door-to-door disciples were probably banned from touching knockers, and the word was spread.
The show begins in earnest at the Salt Lake City facility, with a new set of missionaries graduating and being issued with their grey trousers, white shirts and black ties, paired up and sent out into the big wide world to swell the numbers. They travelled in twos for protection and companionship, being instructed to stay with each other at all times – except in the bathroom – as we find out later.
We follow two misfits, Elder Arnold Cunningham, who habitually tells lies as he wants to be accepted and liked by everyone, and Elder Kevin Price, who’s aim is to be posted to Orlando, Florida. As the graduates names are called out they are allocated a territory; Norway, Paris etc and, in our heroes’ case, a small village in Uganda, much to the disdain of Kevin – and Arnold for that matter.
When they arrive in Africa, their luggage is stolen by the border guards and they are billeted in a small shack. There is already a Mormon presence there but they are having no luck with recruitment, the locals suffering from poverty, famine and AIDS. Not only that, but there is a tribal war going on between the villagers and a small army led by General Butt F*****g Naked.
The Ugandan chapter of the Mormons led by Elder McKinley, Tom Bales, centre.
Arnold wins over the villagers by lying about what the religion is all about to make it more attractive to the population, but he is caught out when the mission president arrives for a progress report. He orders the Elders to return to America where they will be punished. Arnold and Kevin decide to stay, as they have won the hearts of the villagers and they set up their own church.
Elder Cunningham, played by Sam Glen, breaking the Trade Descriptions Act by totally misrepresenting the Book of Mormon, to his congregation. It worked, though!
The main purpose of the piece is to satirise religion, especially the more marginal versions, and, as you will have probably gathered by both the story and my interpretation, it is not done in the best possible taste. When you realise that it was written by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who gave us South Park, with Avenue Q’s Robert Lopez, all becomes clear.
The execution of the piece was brilliantly done, especially the dance numbers, choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, who also co-directed with Trey Parker. They were energetic and their eccentric moves always in perfect synchronisation, except when supposed to go wrong. The songs were also hilarious, as, obviously was the dialogue. I found it incredible that, had you listed the topics dealt with, no one in their right minds would have gone, but the jokes and songs were handled in such a way as to desensitise the audience from taking them too literally. It is difficult to explain without citing examples, but that would both spoil the show for you, and also not work particularly well as the facial, and bodily expressions were the main causes of hilarity.
Adam Bailey as Elder Price, fighting a losing battle by trying to appease General Butt Asterisks Naked, Sackie Osakonor, by quoting the Book.
One of the funniest numbers was set in the fiery furnace, reserved for the worst historical miscreants, so, amongst others, we have Hitler, Genghis Khan, Satan and Johnnie Cochran, the lawyer who represented O J Simpson, obviously he has now moved on to the N F Hell.
The acting was beyond brilliant with the main cast members; Adam Bailey as Elder Price, Tom Bailey as Elder McKinley, and Sam Glen as Elder Cunningham not only having to act but also sing and dance, which they did exceptionally well. The latter, due to his lack of self-esteem, tended to dance when he was acting, which was a great touch. One of his best scenes was one in which he had to perform his first baptism on one of the tribeswomen, Nabulungi, played by Nyah Nish, whose name he kept mispronouncing, with hilarious, if sometimes less than flattering, effect. The way in which this was handled, tuned a solemn religious rite into an erotic experience. To watch a rendition of this by the West End cast, please take a look at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnaXbNeAJgk I thought that Sam Glen was better than the actor in this clip as he was a little more understated – that will probably get him fired!
Elder Cunningham gets to know Nabulungi, played by Nyah Nish, before baptising her.
The other members of the African contingent were Mafala Hatimbi, the village leader, played by Kirk Patterson, and Sackie Osakonor, as the General, who also doubled as Satan. There was another villager who kept complaining of a weird medical condition, which I will not relate here, but will save him the expense of buying a bait bag should he ever take up angling.
I have been known to say that some productions could have done with being half an hour shorter, in this case I thought it would have benefitted from being thirty minutes longer. The pace of delivery was so frenetic that I missed a lot of the jokes, especially in the village, where the actors employed very broad, authentic Ugandan accents. I suppose I will just have to go and see it again, as should you. If nothing else, it might just make you rethink how your friends and acquaintances perceive you to be.
The Book of Mormon runs at Leeds Grand Theatre until Saturday, 29th November, so you have plenty of time to go see it, but see it you must. Don’t hang about though as a lot of the performances are already limited availability and your only other chance to catch it is if you happen to be in Milan next month. Do you hear me Charles and Chiara? For more information, and to book, please go to https://leedsheritagetheatres.com/whats-on/the-book-of-mormon-2025/
To see what else is coming to Leeds Heritage Theatres, please go to https://leedsheritagetheatres.com/whats-on/
Photographs supplied by Leeds Heritage Theatres
Tyke It To The Limit 