Hello! My name is Elder Wilkes and I would like to share with you this most amazing book.

Last night I was treated to the spectacular stage show that was The Book of Mormon. I’ve had the tickets booked for about six months now up in the nosebleeds of the Prince of Wales Theatre that I was worried wouldn’t allow me (and the guys I booked them for) to enjoy the debauchery on stage with restricted view tickets – how wrong I was.

I am a huge fan of Stone and Parker, their off brand of near the knuckle humour and biting social commentary is not only something that directly appeals to me but is what I hope to one day replicate in my own work. I can remember growing up watching South Park and have evolved from a young teenager smoking pot and watching it giggling at the foursome being allowed to say naughty words at inappropriate times to being a young twenty-something smoking pot and enjoying the often not-so-subtle way that the foursome now highlight the ills of society at large, and Butters. OK especially the Butters episodes.

Ever since that I heard that The Book of Mormon was coming to the UK I was determined to get tickets. I read the reviews online and in the paper which just goaded me further to find them come Mormon hell or high water. The Guardian called it “racist” and the Mail branded it “utterly offensive” – at least it seems that the right and the left agree on something. I was not disappointed.

Considering myself quite hard to offend and as a militant agnostic I was sure that there would be nothing religious that would do anything other than roar with laughter but at moments I was pushed near to this feeling that I have never experienced before, it might have just been discomfort but I’m told that it was offence by Google MD after looking up my symptoms. The constant references to AIDS (although not unexpected) was a little much for me and aside from getting me to squirm in my seat felt like old material for the duo.

Trying not to ruin the show but The Book of Mormon follows two Mormon missionaries Elder Cunningham and Elder Price who are sent to Africa to do good and try and convert the native population to the church of latter-day saints. Obviously when there they find that the reality is very different from the Lion King (The only reference for Africa that our heroes have) and instead of Simba and co that are greeted by a cast of characters in the village who get them to curse God in their native tongue, a young villager Nabulungi (Nintendo Wii… or whatever her name is) who “texts” her friends with a type writer and finally an evil war lord General ButtF***ingNaked (don’t ask). Their dilemma only worsens as when they arrive at the mission base they discover that not one villager has been baptised in the history of the mission, not ideal for Elder Price who sees this as his chance to prove his Mormon worth.

As the story continues the heroes and, ensemble, break into various brilliantly written and choreographed numbers. Elder Cunningham gains his first baptism taking a religious act and making it oddly erotic, Elder McKinley teaches us the value of repressing homosexual urges by “switching it off” and finally Elder Price belts out a favourite of mine: “I Believe” detailing the absurdities of the Mormon religion that he’s willing to stand in the hope of one day getting planet Orlando all to himself.

In the end it turns out that Elder Cunningham’s own take on the Mormon teachings is the thing that inspires the villagers to say no to the Generals demands for circumcision and not the “official line” that the church takes complete with death stars and making love to frogs. Nabulungi discovers that religion might not be a “just what it says on the tin” deal and Salt Lake City might not actually be the Promised Land and rather just an ideal to aspire to, a metaphor if you will. At this point Trey and Parkers barbs are no longer at the Mormon Church rather at all organized religion, in particularly those who take the readings of holy books literally. It even appears that they are doffing their cap to the organization that they wish to lampoon with Elder Price and Elder Cunningham ultimately being the ones who through what they have learnt as Mormons (be kind, good, honest…) returning to save the day. Or is it that they are trying to make comment on the lack of practical applications for religion in the modern day?

With the Mormon mission disbanded in Uganda in the end the last number is a rousing finish repeating the amazing opening Hello with a twist. The Ugandan missionaries are now preaching from the “Book of Arnold” that Elder Cunningham made up on the spot to help the villagers through their struggles. In a final compliment to Mormonism it appears that Trey and Parker are entirely letting them off the hook, they realise that it might be a little farfetched to believe that a man who found some golden tablets at the bottom of his garden was actually recounting the third book of the bible but so is thinking that a man fed five thousand people with only a handful of loaves and fishes or that another managed to part the red sea in half. Being a Mormon does sound a little kooky, but if you really think about it so does being a Christian, Muslim or Jew it’s just that those particular organizations have a little more legitimacy because they have been around a little longer. At the birth of Christianity, Christians were being fed to the lions for their “strange” way of thinking. I think that a few off colour jokes on the stage is a much better way to examine our differences. How far we’ve come.

Ultimately The Book of Mormon is fun, brash and dabbles in the water just over the line of acceptability, but that’s what it should be and was always going to be. It’s going to give regular musical goers a bit of something different and will certainly appeal to fans of South Park who might not usually consider venturing to see something at the theatre. After looking in the programme that I purchased as a memento of the evening I found that the Mormon Church has taken out add space between details about the cast and crew with slogans such as “The Book is always better” and “You’ve seen the show now read the book” not only a brilliant move on behalf of the Mormon marketing department but also something I think should be admired. With so many religious groups getting shirty at even the slightest criticism thrown their way (I’m looking at you Islam and you Scientology here) Mormons around the world should feel proud that no one tried to sue for millions, no one blew themselves up outside the opening night and rather they embraced the western principals of free speech and saw the show as a possible chance to spread their word further. Mormonism seems to have missed their stroppy teenage phase that most religions go through (See The Crusades for a time when Christianity was hanging obscure indie bands on their bedroom wall and dressing in black from head to foot)  and has gone right to being a mature adult who is comfortable with what they are.

Religion is now old hat for the South Park gang as seemingly they’ve lampooned ‘em all. Where will it be next for Trey and Parker? The truth is I don’t know but I believe that it’ll only get better, badder and more uncut.