It is the year 3,000,485,000 BC. The once nutrient-rich primordial sea has grown thin due to overeating by the ravenous, multiplying yeasts. To forestall famine, the yeast king forbids feasting, propagating, or (strangely) rising above the ocean’s floor. Prompted by a lowly yeast maiden, the king’s first born defies his father and rises to the ocean’s surface where he finds a new source of food source that seems to save the desperate kingdom. As the story unfolds, the lovers fall in and out of love, villains vie for power, new life-forms emerge, and the world is changed forever. Part Greek tragedy, part Shakespearian court drama, part bio-historical sci-fi fantasia, Yeast Nation explores hunger, greed, love, and sustainability through an absurdist creation myth and a driving rock score.

Music and Lyrics by Mark Hollmann

Book and Lyrics by Greg Kotis