This is the fifth time I’ve seen The Book of Mormon, which feels like enough visits to start noticing the joins. Instead, I keep finding new reasons to laugh.
That’s partly down to the writing. Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Robert Lopez have built a show that throws jokes at organised religion, missionary culture, American exceptionalism and some spectacularly inappropriate subject matter with such confidence that you occasionally find yourself thinking, how did they get away with that? There are lines in this show that would have most people updating their LinkedIn profiles before the curtain came down.
The clever bit is that underneath all the outrageousness, the message remains surprisingly straightforward. People need help. Kindness matters. You can believe completely different things from the person standing next to you and still choose to treat them well. For a musical packed with penis jokes, tap dancing and some deeply questionable missionary techniques, it lands as a pretty decent argument for being a good person.
This Brisbane production has a cast that knows exactly how much to give the material.
Sean Johnstone’s Elder Price is a particular delight. He has the right amount of enthusiasm and exasperation for a man whose entire worldview is built around the idea that he is destined for greatness. Johnstone lets Price’s confidence become increasingly ridiculous without turning him into a cartoon, which gives the character somewhere to go when things start falling apart.
Nick Cox’s Elder Cunningham is where I noticed the biggest difference from previous productions I’ve seen. Cunningham has often been played as some version of a Josh Gad impersonation, which makes sense given how indelible Gad’s original Broadway performance became. Cox has found his own rhythm. His Cunningham feels less like a recreation of a performance you already know and more like an actual, spectacularly weird young man who has wandered into a missionary assignment with zero idea what he’s doing.
That makes the character funnier because you’re watching Cox make choices rather than waiting for familiar beats to arrive. His physical comedy is loose, his reactions are wonderfully specific and there’s a slightly unhinged quality to his timing that makes even the jokes you know land differently.
Luke Haberecht’s Elder McKinley is also a standout. He’s giving me strong John Early energy, particularly in the way he holds a moment just a fraction longer than you expect and lets a facial expression do a frankly unreasonable amount of work. There’s a lovely deadpan precision to it. McKinley can be standing perfectly still while his face tells you an entire separate story, then he’ll drop into a line with impeccable timing and send the scene sideways.
It’s also nice seeing The Book of Mormon in the Glasshouse Theatre. The room works beautifully for this kind of show. From where I was sitting, the sightlines were excellent and the large space has an intimacy that makes the comedy feel immediate.
And yes, it is very funny.
Even knowing what’s coming, I still laughed. That might be the best endorsement I can give after seeing it five times. There are jokes I’ve heard repeatedly that still get me, along with moments I’d forgotten completely. The pace keeps things moving and the cast has enough personality in their performances to make the familiar material feel fresh.
It’s also worth remembering that The Book of Mormon is a red-band musical for a reason. The humour is crude, rude and deliberately offensive at various points, so this is not the show to take someone who would prefer their musical theatre with a sensible serving of decorum. If you’re comfortable with very dark comedy and a production that will happily take a sledgehammer to just about anything, there is a lot of fun to be had here.
Five viewings in, I’m still finding new things to laugh at. I suspect that says more about The Book of Mormon than it does about my ability to remember jokes.
WHAT: The Book of Mormon
WHERE: Glasshouse Theatre, Brisbane
TICKETS: You can get tickets for The Book of Mormon here.
In her spare time, she likes long walks down the makeup aisle and performing in Brisbane theatre. You can follow her adventures on Instagram and TikTok @thebeautypalate.
