The Book of Mormon. Right. OK. So where do I start.

I can quite say it was unlike any musical I have ever seen before. 

I had no clue about the story line, I had never heard any of the songs and had only seen the outrage on twitter. So I felt I was both under prepared and yet well prepared for the experience. 

I queued outside the venue in anticipation. The Prince of Wales theatre is only a minutes walk from Leicester Square, perched discretely on the corner of a street. The inside is extremely small and classy, with no large entrance or foyer, and little yet decorative corridors that herd you to the auditorium. 

It was quite funny when the doorman checked our tickets actually. He inspected the print out paper, looked at us with a bored expression and said 'you need to take the left stairs and head ALL the way to the back'. I capitalise the word 'all' as he seemed to vocally stress it with an additional roll of his eyes. How odd I thought. We had circle seats, albeit it further to the back, but still pretty damn good. We thanked him, entered and soon realised why he seemed so disgusted. The auditorium is so tiny, that the circle is the furthest away from the stage. There is no Balcony or Grand Tier. Fair dos. 

Anyway, how ironic that such a quaint little venue houses such a loud and risky show. 

It is written by the makers of South Park, so that gives you a pretty good idea of the type of comedy that ensues. Cue, a comical and camp look at the beliefs of the church. We see a group of newly graduated Mormons assigned to preach in countries across the globe. The duo we follow are assigned... Africa. That can only be a good thing, right? Right?  

The duo consist of the uptight Elder Kevin Price, and the loose nut Elder Arnold Cunningham. The latter stole the show. Daylight blummin robbery. He's that socially awkward friend we've all been stuck with.

Yet, Arnold stole my heart too. Yes, he's annoying as hell. Wait, there was one scene in Hell and it was more than annoying. Watching Hitler 'grind' upon another person was frankly disturbing. So let me take that back. Arnold isn't as annoying as Hell. Just annoying. Like when a bug won't stop flying around your face, but you don't want to kill it because you'd feel bad. The poor thing doesn't realise what it's doing. That's a better comparison.

His comic timing and character was the best I've ever seen. And I've seen a lot of musicals. 

He goes on to teach an African Tribe about the Book of Mormon. Unfortunately he has never actually read it. It's a bit boring he says. Now remember he is a... colourful, energetic character, that compulsively lies and has a big interest in science fictional characters. So let's just say his teachings had some creative license...

So, try to imagine every stereotype and insult you have heard, triple the offence of it, times that by 100 and you're still nowhere near close to this outrageous show. I am pretty sure I had my hand covering my mouth, attempting to hide my gaping jaw and hard to fight back snigger, the whole way through. Damn I was parched by the end. But, seriously I didn't know if I should or could laugh, cry or storm out. 

As South Park are notorious for, they've thrown PC out of the window. No they've tied it to a brick and dropped it in to the ocean. No they've poured petrol all over it and watched it burn. No they nailed it to a cross and celebrated the absurdity of it. You get the idea. 

Overall, the songs were ok, but it was the top class comedic characters and off the scale crazy plot that made this an unforgettable show. 

All Hail the Book of... Arnold. Now buy your express ticket to the show that's high as f**k. Unless you're easily offended and/or have heart problems. This isn't for wimps. Peace out. 

http://www.bookofmormonlondon.com/