A whirlwind rock musical exploring love, greed, class and more through the lives of… yeast?

It’s hard to describe Yeast Nation in a few words. It’s set in 3,000,458,000 B.C., when the world’s first salt-eating yeasts are led by an ageing king unwilling to face their decline in saline. It’s a story tackling love and hope and inevitable evolution. It’s equal parts Greek tragedy and Shakespearean court drama, a bio-historical satire with a driving rock score, and a show where every character is called Jan. And I loved it.

Best known for Urinetown, another surprising show tackling class and dwindling resources, Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis are Tony Award winners with a talent for providing killer laughs, clever lyricism and impressive musical numbers. They deliver the same here in this high-concept piece deftly handled by director Benji Sperring, who clearly understands the rhythms of comedy and juices every ounce of possibility out of the material. Diego Pitarch’s design offers much with a minimal set, and Lucie Pankhurst’s movement direction keeps the show flowing rather than stagnating. Many a work is mocked with references to fringe theatre but this show takes all of the best parts and uses them to endlessly entertain. They’ve also devised my favourite use of hand puppets since Avenue Q.

Sperring succeeds by knowing how ridiculous we will find the premise but playing the musical moments with the seriousness of Jesus Christ Superstar, and then giving everyone Yorkshire accents. Fortunately, he’s in charge of a cast who are more than capable. Only once did an ambitious riff tense the crowd, for the rest of the time the vocals were very impressive considering the difficulty of the score. Each actor put in an excellent turn as their archetypal roles from revolter to betrayer to leader. Mari McGinlay’s Jan the Sly was a particular standout, as was Christopher Howell as Jan (see?) the Eldest whose range—in voice and performance—was a rousing display. Vitally, the cast all gelled well as an ensemble to create a multi-cellular organism certainly not lacking in verve and commitment.

A musical with this premise is unavoidably risky. Sometimes it felt as if the show was relying on the score; sometimes the band were too loud and articulation meant that overtly-signalled punchlines were lost; and sometimes the songs seemed to finish where they started. But given the size of the undertaking, and the pure joy in the room, none of this seemed to matter.

Is it a marmite show? Yes. Would the Guardian like it? Probably not (and I say that as a reader). But don’t let them deny you this once-in-a-lifetime show.

If you like musical theatre, you need to get yourself a ticket to bask in more Hollman and Kotis imaginings. If you don’t, you need to get yourself a ticket to witness the absolute mayhem unfold. There’s guaranteed laughs, one of the most exciting and energised casts you’ll see, and you don’t have to look too hard to find some messages about conservatism in the face of life’s exponential, and environmental, change.

This show knows what it is. And what it is, is a unique and unforgettable whale of a time… with yeast. Ironically, at the curtain call, the audience did rise.