British comedian Ricky Gervais says “If I have offended anyone, and I’m sure I have, then I don’t apologise for it…there’s nothing you can’t make a joke about. Just because you’re offended doesn’t mean you are right.”
I reflected on his comments about PC culture after the opening night of the latest production of the 9-time Tony Award winning BOOK OF MORMON, now playing at the Capitol Theatre in Haymarket, Sydney.
Being a regional resident, I hadn’t seen this musical before, only heard a few of the songs. It wouldn’t be an easy show to cast in a regional area given that the 24 or so actors required for the show are comprised of over a dozen highly talented singing, dancing white males and the rest of the cast, also highly talented singers and dancers, are to represent people of African heritage. No roles for white females in this show.
I shouldn’t have been surprised by the issues raised; a show written by Trey Parker and, Matt Stone, the creators of the highly irreverent and absurd South Park in conjunction with Robert Lopez, one of the most accomplished contemporary songwriters with hits such as Avenue Q and songs for Frozen was bound to be funny, absurd and confronting as well as incredibly clever and ear worm worthy.
Producer Susan Jones comments “…it invites us to confront the most uncomfortable truths under the cover of humour.”
Indeed, it does. Female genital mutilation, having sex with babies to cure AIDS, violent tribal warlord control, corruption and subjugation in African countries are all issues ticked off quickly in Act One.
Combined with the smiley religious zeal behind the church of Latter-Day Saints and the story upon which their faith is based, one could easily be completely PC’d off! There’sJoseph Smith and his angelic visitations, unearthing golden prophetic plates on a hill in Western New York in 1823 (plates that are magically returned to the angels once he had finished writing his manuscript, The Book of Mormon and early Israelites coming to the Americas c. 600 BC, with early American Indians having a Christian faith that was lost through war and apostasy. Apparently, around 20 million people identifying as Mormons believe in all that. I wondered also whether they’d be in the audience of this show. Or reading this review.
Happy to report though, judging by the immediate standing ovation given by the opening night crowd, no one was taking offence here in Sydney. They all seemed to very much enjoy the early in Act One song Hasa Diga Eebowai, basically meaning stick the middle finger up at God for the downtrodden, disease ridden, dirty and disaffected life that the villagers were suffering through in Uganda and continued to laugh at, clap and hooray every ironic, satirical and impious moment of the whole show.
But I get ahead of myself.
Let’s start by acknowledging that absolutely everything about and everyone in this show is brilliant so the need for further accolades is redundant.
The plot is based around newly minted Salt Lake City male missionaries, Elder Kevin Price and Elder Arnold Cunningham who, having just finished their training for the Church of Latter-Day Saints, have been paired to begin their two-year mission to find, recruit and baptise new members into the Mormon religion in (drumroll) Uganda. Elder Price had been devoutly praying for a posting to Orlando, Florida while Cunningham, the classic gormless sidekick, merely prays for a best friend.
It’s a classic comic setup; the pairing of completely disparate characters, ones who would never normally interact, with the apparent socially inept sidekick character somehow rising to the occasion and managing to take charge and so on. This show might confront several challenging cultural and social issues, but it does it using traditional musical theatre plot conventions, right to the seemingly, supposedly happy end. Even Parker, Stone and Lopez couldn’t disobey those unspoken rules.
The bright and shining world of Utah ends at the airport. When Elder Price and Elder Cunningham arrive in Uganda, they are robbed at gunpoint by soldiers of the local warlord General Butt F*%#ing Naked, and informed of all the woes of the village, led by Mafala Hatimbi and his daughter Nabulungi. That’s where the song Hasa Diga Eebowai comes in.
It’s a rapid shift in colour, set and costume. The creative trio of Scott Pask (set design) Ann Roth (Costume) and Brian MacDevitt (Lighting) whisk us though places, spaces and emotional moments with supreme skill. One magical costume change that appears so quickly and seamlessly on the singing, tap dancing missionaries during the suppress your sacrilegious urges song Turn it Off still has me amazed.
Another favourite was Spooky Mormon Hell Dream when Elder Price, wishing he was in Orlando, dreams that he has been sent to Hell, complete with Hitler, Ghengis Ghan, Jeffrey Dahmer and a disappointed Jesus who calls him a “dick”. It’s a kaleidoscope of swirling devilish costumes and characters, eerie lighting and a weirdly fleshy and sexual red set, all seamlessly and brilliantly flashing in. There’s a lot to see.
The villager’s pageant style recreation of the Joseph Smith story in Joseph Smith American Moses as told to them by the compulsively lying Cunningham, is also up there, comically and visually. It’s a rollicking mad number complete with an alternative cure for AIDS that is equally unsavoury, and a visual pun on Joseph Smith’s gold plates. Plus, another costume/prop reveal that is as hilarious as it is non-PC.
Then there’s the little details that delight. The yellow cowboy boots on the Warlord General for example. The curtains closing like a camera shutter on Cunningham, symbolically shutting him out, the twinkling nighttime sky, the roughhewn stone inside of a villager house.
I also marvel at how Casting Director Matthew Bebbington found all the exactly right triple threat actors for the roles. The dancing is a delight (co-director and choreographer Casey Nicholaw); energetic, precise, tight and clever and every character, despite the stereotypes of the both the Mormon missionaries and the African villagers, is distinct and unique.
Down there in the pit, unseen but driving a stunning sound and eliciting some glorious harmonious moments from all members of the cast is the musical director, Hayden Barltrop. The blending of the voices of Elder Cunningham and Nabulungi gave me goosebumps.
One other thing to look out for is how Elder Cunningham never manages to say Nabulungi’s name correctly. Look out for the array of malapropisms. It’s subtle but also very funny.
Having said that any further accolades were unnecessary, maybe influenced by Elder Cunningham, I lied for the sake of a greater good. It’s worth going to see THE BOOK OF MORMON, so long as you recognise that this is comedy, satire and it’s absurd. I also have a strong feeling that Ricky Gervais would approve.
THE BOOK OF MORMON, book, music and lyrics by Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone,, is playing at the Capitol Theatre, Sydney from 24 July 2025.
Running time 2 hours 20 minutes with a 20-minute interval.
Production photography by Daniel Boud.
https://thebookofmormonmusical.com.au/
