The Book Of Mormon At Liverpool Empire Review

Reviewed by Kathryn Harrison

Last night a friend and I visited the Liverpool Empire Theatre to watch The Book Of Mormon. It was certainly an interesting evening.

Before going I had very little knowledge of the show. I knew it had been written by Trey Parker & Matt Stone, the creators of South Park with music by Robert Lopez, who co-wrote the music for Avenue Q but that’s about where my background knowledge ended.

The show begins with the very clever and catchy song “Hello” through this song we are introduced to the main characters Elder Price and Elder Cunningham, two young Mormons at the Missionary Training Centre. These young men are soon to embark on their two year mission, travelling door to door, converting people to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Elder Price, played by Robert Collins, is a model trainee, with good looks and charm. It’s his belief that if he prays hard enough he will be sent to his favourite place, Orlando, Florida. Unfortunately Elder Price’s plan doesn’t quite work out the way he hoped. Instead he is paired with Elder Cunningham, played by Conner Peirson, a young man who is certainly not a model trainee! Whilst Elder Cunningham is keen and eager, he is also insecure and a compulsive liar, clearly not the companion Elder Price was hoping for! To add to the disappointment rather than spending two years in Orlando, the young men are informed that their mission will be taking them to Uganda.

These privileged, naive young men head to Uganda, certain that they are going to enlighten the Ugandan people and convert them to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They are in for a rude awakening when they are robbed by the local warlord upon their arrival and are outraged to find the villagers don’t have quite the same respect for God as them. This is made abundantly clear during the song Hasa Diga Eebowai.

The themes and lyrics in this show are definitely not for the faint hearted or easily offended. As you would expect from the creators pedigree (South Park, Avenue Q) this is a show that strikes an irreverent tone. There is a lot of strong language and so many “I can’t believe they said that” moments however the characters still feel relatable and likeable. This shock humour is not normally my kind of thing, I’m certainly no fan of South Park. However I can appreciate the skill of taking these serious issues and making them light hearted and funny. Whilst the show is clearly making fun of Mormons, and perhaps all organised religion it never feels too unkind. In fact by the end of the show you are left with the feeling of coming together and working as one regardless of the religion.

There are many fantastic songs and performers in this show but my absolute favourite was Turn It Off, primarily performed by the wonderful Jordan Lee Davies playing Elder McKinley. In my opinion Davies stole the scene every time he was on stage, I loved watching him.

Rating: It’s hard to give a star review for this show, in terms of the performers skills, singing and dancing it is without a doubt a 5/5 however for me personally, the subject matter and humour of the show would be 3 stars. I’m glad I went to watch it but felt it was accurately summed up by the people sitting behind us when the show finished, to quote “Well that was absolutely bonkers!”

Tickets cost from £13 plus £3.65 transaction fee.

The Book of Mormon is at the Liverpool Empire Theatre from 19th July to 13th August, for more information or to book tickets visit https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/the-book-of-mormon/liverpool-empire/ or call the box office on 03330096690

Liverpool Empire Theatre, Lime Street, Liverpool, L1 1JE