Book of Mormon has returned in a sharp Sydney production, bringing the Broadway hit from South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone and Avenue Q co-creator Robert Lopez back to Australia for the first time since 2018.
First staged in New York in 2011, Book of Mormon bewildered audiences initially with its vulgarity – expect plenty of scatological humour, crude jokes about sex and violence and heresy that will offend believers of all creeds and denominations.
So it’s even more of a surprise to find that Book of Mormon holds a tender and sincere narrative of Latter-Day Saint missionaries, Ugandan villagers and warlords and the redemptive power of religion, community, and being nice to one another (even for avowed atheists).
While a little of the novelty has faded, the comedy retains its ability to offend, and the songs are as good as they ever were. This production adds little new for returning audiences, but does what it does exceptionally well.
Led by the principal trio of Elder Price (Sean Johnston), Elder Cunningham (Nick Cox) and Nabalungi (Paris Leveque), the cast ubiquitously excels across demanding vocal and dance roles.
Johnston imbues the ambitious young missionary Price with a humanising naivete and demonstrates impressive weight, control and emotional expression in his singing. Cox takes Cunningham from nebbish to confident with deft physical comedy. Leveque, in her professional debut, has a big voice and a subtle touch in handling the Ugandan villager Nabalungi.
Tom Struik as the choral leader Elder McKinley reaps the biggest laughs with some barely-repressed camp, while Augie Tchantcho, returning in the role as General Butt Fucking Naked, flows from terrifying to hilarious in his role.
Every member of the ensemble gets a moment to shine and on opening night, every coloratura found its mark and every comic line got its response. Mickey Nixon produced good work in a surprisingly understated performance as a doctor.
At moments the orchestra threatens to overpower the vocals, but the band is otherwise well-oiled and puts plenty of power into big numbers like ‘Spooky Mormon Hell Dream’ and ‘Hasa Diga Eebowai’.
The staging, set design and much of the choreography mirror the original (and still-running) Broadway production, although some minor changes to the script have been made in the wake of the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
Read: Henry 6 – Part 3 review: a pared back Sydney Shakespeare Company production
Those changes make little difference to the narrative and although informed by discussions with black cast members in 2020, make little substantial difference to the depictions of the Ugandans in the show. The characterisations (of both Ugandans and Mormons) are broad and stereotyping here – if you found it offensive in its original iteration, you’ll still find it offensive now.
Book of Mormon: satirical and heartwarming
Creators Parker and Stone recently announced a USD$1.5 billion deal with Paramount for the streaming rights to South Park, showing there’s still plenty of audience appetite for their brand of cultural satire cut with fart jokes.
Like their work in television, Book of Mormon has passed from avant-garde vulgarity to canonicity. Some of the shock and awe has worn off over the years, but the real surprise here remains the heartwarming story backed up by a fantastic score. You may come for the jokes, but you’ll leave humming the tunes.
Book of Mormon will be performed at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney until 31 December 2025.
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