Why are there so many plays where mormons feature prominently? It seems almost bizarre that a religion making up less than 2% of the US population (even less worldwide), which is openly anti gay and until not as long ago as you’d hope, was openly anti-anyone who wasn’t white, holds such a sway on the imagination. Perhaps it is the inherent theatricality of its origin story. Don’t get me wrong, when you dig a little A LOT of origin stories about A LOT of things we believe get theatrical - so this isn’t a slight at mormonism or any religion. Just an observation.
Anyway, we went to see this as a 19th birthday gift to my daughter at her insistence. The parallel that the mormon youth head out on their pilgrimages at 19 was not a coincidence. The current West End cast are all exceptional performers, and the production is all the slick shiny perfection you’d expect for that ticket price. What was uncanny was that it felt less funny than when you hear the recording; certainly the first act got fewer laughs from the crowd than I’d have expected. Perhaps because the songs from that act are quite widely known? The jokes are certainly more broad than those we get in the second act, and land a lot more uncomfortably. They don’t quite punch down, but laterally perhaps? Either way, it is an uncomfortable 2.5 hours at times, despite the performers efforts and comic timing. Do they feel the discomfort, too?
It all just feels so shiny. Being me, I allowed my mind to wander to what a Theatre of Failure interpretation of this show might be. I’ll leave you with that.