REVIEW: Book of Mormon

Book of Mormon is very much a love-hate musical – if you are easily offended, it may not be for you. Fortunately, I’m not, and the show was simply exceptional.

I will start off by saying I need to be careful with what I quote in this review as not much of the script can be sent to print!

Having already been aware of the story I was watching, I was excited to see what was going to be done with it this time around, and I was not disappointed.

The comedy value of the show had nothing lacking at any point. The cheesiness of the delivery of some lines just added to the ridiculousness of the script and brought brilliant belly laughs from all directions of the auditorium.

The staging of this play was done brilliantly – everything moved in such a slick way, and this was matched with superb choreography. The dances and – once again – cheesiness of some of the Mormons’ movements were just simply hysterical. The cast did an excellent job of bringing both the director’s work and the choreographer’s skill to life.

That leads me on to the actors. One word: “Wow”.

First off, the Mormon ensemble. They were incredible – with the comedic timing of everything they did, not a single beat was missed, and it was a pleasure to watch. The two songs ‘Hello!’ and ‘Turn it off’ were personal highlights. I had tears running down my face and it was just ace! ‘Turn it off’ might now be my favourite musical song after that performance and it’s all down to that set of lads. Tom Bales leading the song was perfection and he deserves every plaudit – it was perfectly done. But so do the rest of the cast, too. Dan Burstow, Benjamin Cameron, Will Carey, Harry Winchester and Elliot Swann, take a bow.

Plaudits also need to go to the ensemble of the Ugandan Village, with their outrageous comments, the belting one-liners, the hysterical songs – it was gut-wrenchingly funny and I could not stop laughing. Tolu Ayanbadejo was a personal favourite. Not a beat was missed in any of her responses, the timing or the lines to produce roars of laughter time and time again. 

Daniel David Griffith also deserves a mention for his role as the doctor. Sometimes lines of such an obscene nature can dictate the mannerism intended and you can lose the comedy, but this was not the case. Every line just got funnier and funnier. Again, it’s hard for me to quote specifics – if I did, this article may not be published due to obscenities!

Rodney Earl Clarke, A.K.A General BFN (let’s not explain what BFN means) was great. It is sometimes hard to remain the powerful one on the stage when everyone else is making the audience laugh, but he not only did it but made the audience go from laughing to hysterics with some of his lines – a top job.

Kirk Patterson and Nyah Nish playing Mafala and Nabulungi were brilliant individually, but also as a team. Don’t get me wrong, the outrageousness of the lines and the jokes from both of them were incredible, but there was also a nice partnership there for the ‘father/daughter’ roles, and they were both amazing to watch, and wickedly funny.

Then there are the two ‘best friends’. We’ll start with Elder Price, played by Adam Bailey. To put it simply, nobody could have played that part better, and the leading man gave a performance truly worthy of the name. Adam’s comedic timing in lines and songs alike, as well as his performance in the ‘Spooky Mormon hell dream’ scene, really stood out among a performance full of brilliant moments. 

Finally, Sam Glen, who played Elder Cunningham, was nothing more than the absolute show stealer. Sam had the audience in the palm of his hand from the second he entered in ‘Hello!’ and had them in fits of laughter ever since. He captured the awkward, geeky friend in the best possible way and his delivery of some of the show’s most hilarious lines was spot on. Calling Nabulungi ‘Nigel Farage’ was the one of the top moments for me as I was not expecting it, and it took a while for me to gain composure after that. Sam was simply exceptional and deserves every bit of praise for a uniquely stellar performance.

As I’d seen this musical before elsewhere, I knew it was funny, but this performance knocked my socks off and some of the music from it is now up there among my favourite musical songs. The choreographer and the musical director combined absolutely nailed the atmosphere of the play and it was brilliant to see.

This show is not to be missed! If you are easily offended, I would suggest that you read up on the themes of the show before going but if you are light-hearted and love a rip-roaring laugh, you CANNOT miss this show.