THE BOOK OF MORMON AT THE PRINCE OF WALES THEATRE
By Lydia Parker (published in American in Britain magazine, summer 2013)
The arrival of The Book of Mormon in the West End has been hotly anticipated after winning nine Tony awards for the Broadway production. Written by the creators of South Park, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, and one of the creators of Avenue Q, Robert Lopez, it does not disappoint. The Book of Mormon is intelligent, witty, extremely funny, offensive and an excellent musical. I was not quite sure what to expect as I am only familiar with South Park through my daughters who are fans. Whenever they describe a South Park episode to me it always sounds a bit shocking but with an underlying message about American society. The Book of Mormon is the same but with better songs and a lot of dancing.
Elder Price and Elder Cunningham are two nineteen year old Mormons being sent from the safe world of Salt Lake City, Utah, the centre of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, on a mission to convert the people of the world. While their fellow Mormons are sent to nice places like France, Japan and Norway, our heroes are assigned to Uganda, a country of which they have never heard. They hope it will be something like ‘The Lion King’. Elder Price, who looks and acts like a teen idol, is not thrilled with his new companion, the short, fat, bespectacled Arnold Cunningham, who adores him and declares him his best friend: “This is so awesome because all my friends end up leaving me but you can’t!”. The ambitious Price is convinced this is an opportunity to make a difference in the world as he sings “You and Me (But Mostly Me)”.
Upon arriving in Northern Uganda, they are immediately relieved of all their possessions by the henchmen of the local warlord, General Butt F***-ing Naked. They are eventually brought to the other Mormons by a local leader, Mafala Hatimbi, but not before they’ve been introduced to the villagers with a happy song, "Hasa Diga Eebowai." “Is that like Hakuna Matata?” asks Elder Cunningham. It’s not. For a village wracked with poverty, AIDS, war and crime, their song is a middle finger up to God. The other Mormon missionaries, more squeaky clean nineteen year olds, confess they have not baptised anyone in the three months they have been there. They are too frightened of everything but have become very good at supressing all emotions, including bad memories and homosexual tendencies, as explained in the splashy musical number “Turn It Off.”
After witnessing a cold blooded murder by the warlord, Elder Price decides to ask for a transfer to Orlando, Florida, the place of his dreams, despite breaking the rules on leaving his partner. Nabulungi, the beautiful daughter of Mafala, convinces Elder Cunningham to baptise her and convert the other villagers; she thinks that by becoming a Mormon she will get to move to Salt Lake City (“Sal Tlay Ka Siti”) and get away from the terrible living conditions of Uganda. Summoning all his courage, with the song “Man Up”, Cunningham, who never actually read 'The Book of Mormon', decides to educate the locals in his own way, retelling the stories with the help of Star Wars. In his concern for their health and unsavoury practices, like female mutilation, he creates tales which will change the way they live for the better. Meanwhile, after a “Spooky Mormon Hell Dream” involving giant cups of coffee as a temptation, Elder Price reconsiders and decides to go and convert the General himself, bringing him 'the Book of Mormon'. The result isn’t pretty.
Elder Cunningham ends up converting the entire village and becoming a hero amongst the white, blonde Mormons boys who sing a hilarious song “I am Africa” all dressed in white.
This musical is bound to offend some people if taken on face value. Some British critics have dubbed it racist, but I feel that is missing the point that the play is purposely cartoon like and tongue in cheek, much like South Park apparently. The problems that it depicts, extreme poverty, illness etc., in Africa, are very real and sometimes the only way to get people to pay attention is to make them laugh. For me, The Book of Mormon is really about the innocence of Americans, especially those who are brought up in a cosy, protected world of faith. Mormonism is an American religion, founded in Rochester, New York, as the flamboyant musical tableaus depict. The musical could have been written about any religion but basically seems to be saying Mormons are a nice bunch of people, who believe they can convert anyone to their religion and a better way of life, a mission which carries with it a certain amount of arrogance along with good will. This is perhaps controversial, but I think the writers are trying to bring across a real message with terrific humour.
The performers are uniformly excellent, very talented at both singing and dancing, and also extremely funny. American imports Gavin Creel, as the Donny Osmond like Elder Price and Jared Gertner as nerdy Elder Cunningham shine in their roles. Alexia Khadime is also exceptional as the lovely Nabulungi, whose name the smitten Cunningham can never get right, calling her Neutrogena or Nutella. The rest of the cast support them well, especially Giles Terera as Mafala and Stephen Ashfield as the repressed Elder McKinley, amongst other roles. The Book of Mormon is above all a first- rate musical with brilliant choreography and hilarious songs that leave you wanting more.