The stage show's official opening at the Princess Theatre on Saturday night (after weeks of previews, months of ticket sales and seriously strong reviews and word of mouth overseas) comes at an interesting time in US-Australian diplomacy, with the 'special relationship' under intense scrutiny amid reports of Trump hanging up on Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Religious experience: South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker at Melbourne's Princess Theatre. Credit:Eddie Jim The more unpredictable politics becomes, the less appeal it holds as a source of comedy says the duo, whose credits include the side-splitting 2004 film Team America: World Police (now looking far less ridiculous in light of the current presidency). The 2016 presidential election campaign left them reeling while making the latest season of South Park. "We've been grappling with this ... because in the middle of the season it seemed likely satire kind of overcame reality," says Stone. "[In] the cheap version of satire you take what's going on and do an extreme version to show how ridiculous it is ... This [past] year became like, 'How can you write something funnier than that?' Real life is overrunning it."

"We don't have [to record] more shows until August, we're psyched about that. We'll see if we can kick it up a level. South Park can only represent old white guys in so many ways." Beyond parody: The pair are already sick of Donald Trump as a source of comedy, just two week's into his presidency. Credit:Eddie Jim "I'm so Trumped out already," says Parker. "I'm so done. For me it would be nice to have a show that has nothing to do with that." The duo's trademark irreverent humour in The Book of Mormon has kicked musicals up a notch, appealing to a much broader audience, many of whom would not normally set foot inside a theatre. Trey Parker and Matt Stone in Melbourne for the Australian premiere of The Book of Mormon. Credit:Eddie Jim

The show follows a pair of naive young American Mormons who are dispatched to war-torn Uganda as missionaries. Its incredibly catchy songs – the anthemic I Believe ("that God lives on a planet called Kolob .../and in 1978 changed his mind about black people"); Man Up ("What did Jesus do when they put nails through his hands?/Did he scream like a girl, or did he take it like a man?") and the saucy Baptise Me (I'm about to do it for the first time/And I'm gonna do it with a girl!") – power the show along at a fast clip. I'm so Trumped out already. I'm so done. For me it would be nice to have a show that has nothing to do with that. Trey Parker "We really wrote the songs first and then we wrote the book around the songs," says Parker. "I think that's why it turned out good. It's not a musical with the songs written at the end. The songs really drive the show." The Australian cast comprises a mix of local actors – Zahra Newman, Bert LaBonte and Rowan Witt – and North American performers, including the leads (Canada's Ryan Bondy as Elder Price and A.J. Holmes as Elder Cunningham).