The Book of Mormon - Prince of Wales Theatre - Review

Please Note - As the current cast only began performances on Monday 2nd February, the photographs in this review feature the previous cast.

Written by the creators of South Park. That should act as your warning really, as South Park is known for being loud, naughty, and rude, pushing satire to the extreme and running with it as they say the things that others wouldn't dare to. So knowing all of that, you should walk into their popular musical The Book of Mormon, which has been running for 12 years, with awareness, an open mind and the reminder to not take it too seriously shouting in your head. For if you can do those things, you will be treated to an hilariously naughty, outrageously silly and ridiculously catchy delight.

The Book of Mormon tells the story of two young Mormon Missionaries, the confident, at times cocky Elder Price (Declan Egan) who believes that it is his destiny to do something so incredible it will blow the mind of the heavenly father and Elder Cunningham (Connor Pierson), the bumbling pack of nerves with a tendency to be more than a tad inventive with the choice as they are sent on their mission to Uganda where they are met with a world of poverty, unlawful rule and villagers who believe that it is definitely not God who is going to save them from their woes.

Egan's Elder Price is your picture perfect example of what a good young Mormon man should be, dedicated, devoted and determined to spread the word of God. But he dreams of Orlando, not Uganda and everything that he sees has him questioning his very being. Egan creates a character you wish to succeed, whilst also hoping that he learns some valuable lessons along the way, with some vocals to boot. Pierson's Elder Cunningham, as wide eyed and bushy tailed as one can be, tries to see the upside of everything despite the fact that he is an expert in digging himself into holes when it comes to telling the truth. His natural flair for comedy has the audience in stitches throughout, pepping himself up and trying his best to flirt with innocent and dreamy eyed villager Nabulungi (Regan-Bailey Walker).

Tom Bales earns many applause as the smile away the pain Elder McKinley, telling himself and others to turn off any feelings they shouldn't be having and knowing all too well about the spooky Mormon dreams that might plague them if they do have those thoughts with Walker's Nabulungi being sweet and perhaps a little bit too much all too trusting. Matthew Elliot-Campbell's General is the baddy of the piece and he enjoys every moment of it, with just a look enough to raise a laugh.

The Book of Mormon is rude, and definitely not for family viewing, and there is no avoiding that. It is utterly laden with bad language, jokes and references that could be considered much more than tongue in cheek and moments that could so easily have you thinking 'did they really just say that?' but I think that might just be the whole point. This is a comedy that is designed to shock, constructed to take you so far from reality that you have to laugh at the moments that could so really happen. It is there to poke fun at religion, to make you laugh at the beliefs and teachings as even the characters themselves directly reference the unbelievability of it all.

The songs may feature many naughty lyrics but they are as catchy as they are cheeky. From 'Hello', 'Turn It Off' and 'All American Prophet' to 'Making Things Up Again' and 'Spooky Mormon Hell Dream', you could easily call every song an absolute ear worm that will pop into your mind at the most random of moments.

The Book of Mormon, as shocking as it is silly, isn't afraid to push the boundaries and to stand out from the crowd, with incredible performances and songs that delight. It is not for the easily offended, but if you find raucous naughtiness that is brave enough to overstep the mark funny, then be prepared to laugh your head off here.