LAWDY, lawdy – it looks like the late-starting Book of Mormon will be opening in Glasgow in just over a week. Yet, it will take divine intervention to make it a commercial reality, (from political supreme being Nicola Sturgeon) hopefully raising audience numbers skyward from the current restrictions of 200.
However, this is a show that Scotland needs to see. Why, you wonder? Who would wish to see a musical with a storyline which examines the beliefs and practices of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? Mormonism, to most people, is the idea of young men in matching suits knocking gently on your door, and not getting upset when that same door is slammed in their face?
Mormonism is a Donny and Marie tithe-giving religion that has nice modern churches in Scotland populated by people who will tell you they love your outfit, even if the clothes you’re wearing are the first thing that came to hand after that drug-hazed all-nighter.
But does it offer a premise for a theatre musical? Well, the B of M was written by South Park creators Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone, who are masters of satire. And the show features a certain number of expletives and hard-hitting humour.
But of course, a show wouldn’t have become so successful if it simply took a chainsaw to the head that is the Mormon belief system and buried it in a shallow grave.
What the writers do cleverly however is hold the religion’s unusualness up for examination, the unrelenting geniality of its elders who walk the globe, chatting on doors and hoping to convert people with unrelenting amiability. “We grew up with Mormons, and their MO is to beat you by being kinder than you and higher than you,” Parker explained.
The storyline follows two Mormon salesmen, the highly strung Elder Price and dumpy, lying Elder Cunningham, who are sent out to convert Uganda.
And so, we have a great narrative, a journey blocked by defiance, disbelief and dismay. How can you convert African villagers into believing that this American wealth machine can work in a world where people are struggling to feed themselves? How can you knock on doors made of wattling?
The writers make the most of this impossible task, and without giving too much away, we see Price and Cunningham sell their religion via cures for AIDS, which involves having sex with amphibians.
It’s naughty. It’s at times outrageous. It has great songs. Yet, it doesn’t mock God at all. Indeed, the 15m Mormons in Utah are said to ‘more or less support the idea of show’, in fact taking ad space in many show programmes.
“It reveals we’re Christian, not a cult,” said one leading elder, who argues (very gently) the adage there is no such thing as bad publicity.
Wonderful. So, let’s hope the god of all things entertainment will allow theatre doors to open wide.
The Book of Mormon, the King’s Theatre, Glasgow, January 17 to 22.
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