The Book of Mormon

Recently, Marcus and I were lucky enough to score two front row tickets to see The Book of Mormon. Every day before a performance, a lottery is held outside the theatre, giving people a chance to win some of the best seats in the house for just £20 per ticket! Marcus saw this as an amazing chance to see a musical which is renowned for being consistently sold out and so at five o'clock on the dot, we were lining up outside the theatre, raffle form in hand, hoping for a chance to win. We were very lucky. The number of tickets dwindled as we waited with baited breath. Then, on the second to last draw, my name was called! Grinning, I ran inside the box office to pay the absurdly low price to purchase the coveted tickets. I couldn't quite believe it- we'd heard stories of people entering for up to six days in a row and still missing out!

Okay, this is where I have to admit that at this point I knew next to nothing about the show, I just enjoy winning. I mean, I'd seen the adverts on the tube, but hadn't really ever thought that much about it. Luckily however, Marcus knew a lot and so set about filling me in. Essentially, it's written by the team behind 'South Park' and is about two Mormons' journey to convert people to their faith. I won't tell you much more about the story because I'd hate to give anything away, but I will say that it is easily one of the best musicals I've ever seen.

Initially, I was quite dubious. I'm not a big fan of the type of humour in South Park and so was quite apprehensive about sitting through a few hours of something along the same lines. The South Park influence was definitely there in the clever references to other stories (a surprise visit from Yoda!) and at times, the humour being cringingly crude, but I have to say, I enjoyed every minute of it (and if the laughter filling the theatre was anything to go on, I'd say the rest of the audience did too). The story was  brilliantly current (Starbucks mugs dancing in Hell, lorded over by a guitar riffing Devil), with every song up beat and every dance choreographed to perfection. I especially loved just how animated every single character was and how there was always a surprise around the corner. The only unsurprising thing was that the performance ended with the entire audience on their feet, clapping and cheering the actors as they took their final bows.

This is how close we were!

This show is really not to be missed. Not only is it wonderfully hilarious (please, if easily offended, take everything with a pinch of salt), it's also thought provoking, causing you to question not only religion and belief systems, but the romanticised view we all have on certain parts of the world. More than anything however, it leaves you feeling rather endeared towards Mormons!