Theatre review: Yeast Nation (the triumph of life)

There must be something about Southwark Playhouse that inspires Benji Sperring towards the colour green: The director's last show in the Large was The Toxic Avenger, and now from a green lead we move on to an entirely green cast. Urinetown creators Mark Hollman (music & lyrics) and Greg Kotis (book & lyrics) have come up with an even more surreal theme for a musical than public toilets, by going back to the year 3,000,458,000 BCE and the first single-cell yeast organisms that could be considered life on Earth. Yeast Nation (the triumph of life) has recently been selling itself as "London's most controversial musical," which isn't quite accurate as the term has to be "divisive" - many of the official reviews seem to have completely panned it, and based on the turnout even on a Friday night that seems to have affected ticket sales. But, appropriately enough, the yeast-based substance it's most turned out to resemble is Marmite, because among those who made the trip many have loved it.

In love/hate shows I often fall on the "hate" side, old cynic that I am, and first impressions suggested that we were in trouble tonight as well, as a cast dressed in green unitards covered in pom-poms wobbled onto the stage making bubbling noises.

But the production and cast have leaned so far into the ludicrousness of what's going on that it quickly turned things around for me and, given the laughter, for most of tonight's audience. Despite being single-cell organisms the Yeasts have names (well, name, they're all called Jan) and a society led by Jan the Eldest (Christopher Howell,) who rules as king simply because he was the first lifeform. When he first asexually reproduced by splitting into two cells, he created Jan the Second Eldest (Stephen Lewis Johnston,) who is heir apparent. But Jan the Sly (Mari McGinlay) and Jan the Wise (Shane Convery) are plotting to bring both of them down and have Sly rule instead.

In a story that's muddled in every possible way, nothing's more headache-inducing than Hollman and Kotis' attempts to bring a message to the musical: In the broadest sense it's an argument against reactionary attitudes, as Eldest rules the nation according to the "strictures" that include no longer asexually multiplying to save resources for the yeasts who already exist. But Second and Jan the Sweet (Hannah Nuttall) defy the rules against rising from the bottom of the ocean, and instead of salt crystals start feeding on the "muck" that will allow them to evolve. But honestly trying to describe the story or what the hell the writers were thinking feels like a waste of time - every so often a show comes along that seems to be actively trying to win my annual Pippin Memorial Award for Endearing Whatthefuckery, and Yeast Nation is one such show.

And it's got a good chance of winning because insane as it is I certainly found it endearing. There's actually elements of a decent musical in there somewhere - songs (arranged by The Clockmaker's Daughter's Michael Webborn) like "Alone," "Let Us Rise," "Stasis is the Mebrane" and "You're Not the Yeast You Used to Be" are more memorable than many I've heard in more critically-lauded musicals, and the cast, 50% of whom graduated during lockdown and are being given the chance here to make the professional debuts they missed out on then, deliver them powerfully. The cast also includes Marisa Harris as Jan the Famished, who absorbs too much salt and accidentally breaks the law against reproducing, and creates Jan the Youngest (James Gulliford.) Tonight the director himself had to step in as one of the cast was indisposed, so Sperring read Jan the Unnamed - fortunately this is the narrator, so it didn't affect Lucie Pankhurst's choreography, which ranges from the demented to the deadly serious (which is even funnier, at least when delivered in frilly unitards.)

And those unitards turn out to be a highlight in themselves: There's no getting around the fact that designer Diego Pitarch's costumes initially look like something out of a cheap and particularly deranged primary school play, but the fronds and buckles hide plenty of pockets and surprises. A glove puppet is the first non-yeast life form to evolve, and the way it's passed around the cast is a classic example of how keeping theatrical magic strictly low tech can be joyous. But mostly it's the cast themselves who sell the show - there's so many warnings of audience participation I expected the front row to end up on stage, but mostly it boils down to the cast taking great pleasure in their little interactions with the audience. As I say, the harsh reviews meant tonight wasn't even half-full, but all credit to the cast, I've rarely seen so much atmosphere so effectively created against the odds.

So yes, when yeast is used for Marmite I end up on the "hate" side, but when it's used to make actors wobble around a stage and smashing their faces into blobs of "food," then snapping a glowstick to signify that they've evolved to the point of acquiring a soul, I ended up in fits of giggles for most of the night, as did much of the rest of the audience. In the end though I can only describe going to see Yeast Nation as a gamble: If you're in the right mood, in the right audience, and this particular brand of silliness tickles your funnybone, you'll have an absolute blast. But I can easily see how, if it fails to click for you in those ways, you'll enjoy it about as much as a yeast infection.

Yeast Nation (the triumph of life) by Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis is booking until the 27th of August at Southwark Playhouse's Large Theatre.

Running time: 2 hours 30 minutes including interval.

Photo credit: Claire Bilyard.