The European premiere of Yeast Nation, a bio-historical musical comedy from the Tony-award winning writers of Urinetown, opens at the Southwark Playhouse this summer.
Yeast Nation (The Triumph of Life) was written and composed by Tony and Obie award-winning writers Greg Kotis and Mark Hollmann, and this debut London production is directed by Benji Sperring (The Toxic Avenger, Night of the Living Dead – Live!)
Yeast Nation is a black comedy set in the brine of the primordial soup over 3 and a half billion years ago. As the original colony of salt-eating Yeast take their first tentative steps up (or down) the evolutionary ladder, some of The Yeast are happy to stay in stasis at the bottom of the sea. However, there are others in the colony determined to rise and grow, even if it is against the wishes of The Yeast’s leader, Jan-the-Elder, who refuses to acknowledge the depletion of their limited saline food supply.
But as even Jan-the-Elder’s son strives against his father, who knows what troubles The Yeast will face as they come to terms with the cruellest evolutionary hurdle: Love? Part classic Greek drama, part bio-historical comedy musical, part bizarre fever dream, and all unique theatre experience, Yeast Nation shows that no matter your size, you have to dream big.
Yeast Nation premiered in 2007 at the Perseverance Theatre in Alaska, and has been produced in fringe productions across the US including New York, San Francisco and Chicago. It was written as a prequel to Urinetown as part of an, as yet, unproduced trilogy.
Director Benji Sperring has said “Having directed shows ranging from the Rocky Horror sequel which predicted the dangers of Reality TV, to a show about a monstrous mutant ripping people up for not recycling, of course I’m attracted to the wacky weirdness that comes from a show about Yeast. But with the genius minds of Greg Kotis and Mark Hollmann behind it, the show is about so much more than that – it’s about love, the soul, the state of the world we are in now, and the ways we are dealing with the terrifying global problems on our doorstep. And while The Yeast might only be little, they prove they can grow into the biggest heroes and change existence as we know it; what a brilliant metaphor for what we need today.”
Yeast Nation runs 22nd July to 27th August 2022
