This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2013/mar/21/the-book-of-mormon-review
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| The Book of Mormon – review | The Book of Mormon – review |
| (6 months later) | |
| Strip away all the hype surrounding this hit Broadway import and what do you find? A mildly amusing musical, with some knowingly parodic songs, that takes a few pot shots at religious credulity without ever questioning the need for belief. I had a perfectly pleasant time, but the idea that the show, which won nine Tony awards, is either daringly offensive or a Broadway breakthrough is pure codswallop. | Strip away all the hype surrounding this hit Broadway import and what do you find? A mildly amusing musical, with some knowingly parodic songs, that takes a few pot shots at religious credulity without ever questioning the need for belief. I had a perfectly pleasant time, but the idea that the show, which won nine Tony awards, is either daringly offensive or a Broadway breakthrough is pure codswallop. |
| Book, music and lyrics are jointly assigned to Trey Parker and Matt Stone (of South Park fame) and Robert Lopez (co-creator of Avenue Q); and they are undeniably sharp guys. Realising that a host of American musicals (South Pacific, The King and I, Pacific Overtures) are about a collision of cultures, they show two naive Mormon missionaries, the narcissistic Elder Price and the nerdy Elder Cunningham, being dispatched from Salt Lake City to northern Uganda. There they encounter a world of poverty, Aids, genital mutilation and terror, all overseen by a general known as Butt Fucking Naked. Through a mixture of Cunningham's harebrained storytelling and Price's reckless courage, goodness finally prevails. | Book, music and lyrics are jointly assigned to Trey Parker and Matt Stone (of South Park fame) and Robert Lopez (co-creator of Avenue Q); and they are undeniably sharp guys. Realising that a host of American musicals (South Pacific, The King and I, Pacific Overtures) are about a collision of cultures, they show two naive Mormon missionaries, the narcissistic Elder Price and the nerdy Elder Cunningham, being dispatched from Salt Lake City to northern Uganda. There they encounter a world of poverty, Aids, genital mutilation and terror, all overseen by a general known as Butt Fucking Naked. Through a mixture of Cunningham's harebrained storytelling and Price's reckless courage, goodness finally prevails. |
| What is the show actually saying? In part, that religion is a human invention. Passing reference is made to the Mormon founder, Joseph Smith, and his supposed discovery of sacred tablets on a hillside in New York state in 1827. We see Cunningham concocting a new faith in which Mormonism is merged with bits of Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings. Yet, as satire, this is pretty toothless compared with Nigel Dennis's 1957 Royal Court play, The Making of Moo. Dennis devastatingly showed that it is easy enough to invent a new religion, but that it will inexorably lead to sacrifice and ritual slaughter before achieving respectability. The Book of Mormon takes the exact opposite line, suggesting a made-up faith may be a remedy for violence and bloodshed. For all its rude words, this is essentially a safe, conservative show for middle America. | What is the show actually saying? In part, that religion is a human invention. Passing reference is made to the Mormon founder, Joseph Smith, and his supposed discovery of sacred tablets on a hillside in New York state in 1827. We see Cunningham concocting a new faith in which Mormonism is merged with bits of Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings. Yet, as satire, this is pretty toothless compared with Nigel Dennis's 1957 Royal Court play, The Making of Moo. Dennis devastatingly showed that it is easy enough to invent a new religion, but that it will inexorably lead to sacrifice and ritual slaughter before achieving respectability. The Book of Mormon takes the exact opposite line, suggesting a made-up faith may be a remedy for violence and bloodshed. For all its rude words, this is essentially a safe, conservative show for middle America. |
| That's not to say it doesn't have its pleasures; and part of the fun lies in playing spot-the-source for the numerous songs. The opening number, Hello, in which trainee missionaries press doorbells, has echoes of the telephone song in Bye Bye Birdie. A cheery African anthem, Hasa Diga Eebowai, is clearly a foul-mouthed parody of a similar number in The Lion King. And, when the Ugandans stage their own muddied version of Mormon faith, one is reminded of the Uncle Tom's Cabin scene from The King and I. But my own favourite number was Baptize Me, in which the virginal Nabulungi seeks total immersion from the clueless Cunningham, in what is clearly a form of surrogate sex. | That's not to say it doesn't have its pleasures; and part of the fun lies in playing spot-the-source for the numerous songs. The opening number, Hello, in which trainee missionaries press doorbells, has echoes of the telephone song in Bye Bye Birdie. A cheery African anthem, Hasa Diga Eebowai, is clearly a foul-mouthed parody of a similar number in The Lion King. And, when the Ugandans stage their own muddied version of Mormon faith, one is reminded of the Uncle Tom's Cabin scene from The King and I. But my own favourite number was Baptize Me, in which the virginal Nabulungi seeks total immersion from the clueless Cunningham, in what is clearly a form of surrogate sex. |
| If that number is funny and touching, it is because of the two performers. Jared Gertner is stubbily endearing as the klutzy Cunningham, who starts out as a total jerk and ends up as a local saviour. What Gertner essentially captures is the puppy-like innocence of a character who, having arrived in Africa as a closet racist, still never manages to get his tongue round Nabulungi's name. Conversely Alexia Khadime, as Nabulungi, constantly suggests a sharp intelligence behind the caricatured showbiz image of African naivete. And, completing the trio of lead roles, Gavin Creel as Elder Price wittily conveys the implacable self-regard and gleaming teeth of the door-to-door religious salesman. | If that number is funny and touching, it is because of the two performers. Jared Gertner is stubbily endearing as the klutzy Cunningham, who starts out as a total jerk and ends up as a local saviour. What Gertner essentially captures is the puppy-like innocence of a character who, having arrived in Africa as a closet racist, still never manages to get his tongue round Nabulungi's name. Conversely Alexia Khadime, as Nabulungi, constantly suggests a sharp intelligence behind the caricatured showbiz image of African naivete. And, completing the trio of lead roles, Gavin Creel as Elder Price wittily conveys the implacable self-regard and gleaming teeth of the door-to-door religious salesman. |
| I should add that the show is efficently directed by Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker, and offers a perfectly decent night out. What it lacks, though, is the courage of its own convictions. Having decided to spoof the implicit colonialism of the missionary position and the palpable fabrications of sacred texts, it then endorses the idea that humans have a built-in bias towards belief. That may well be true. But you can't be Swift and Pollyanna at the same time. And, while the show has a few sardonic things to say about our capacity for credulity, the biggest myth of all is that it's somehow a landmark American musical. | I should add that the show is efficently directed by Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker, and offers a perfectly decent night out. What it lacks, though, is the courage of its own convictions. Having decided to spoof the implicit colonialism of the missionary position and the palpable fabrications of sacred texts, it then endorses the idea that humans have a built-in bias towards belief. That may well be true. But you can't be Swift and Pollyanna at the same time. And, while the show has a few sardonic things to say about our capacity for credulity, the biggest myth of all is that it's somehow a landmark American musical. |
| Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |