By Venus Zarris

As is so often the case with art imitating life or the other way around, I received an e-mail from a dear friend wherein she informed me that she didn’t think that anything could take her mind off of the crippling pain of her infected tooth until, after taking a prescription for powerful antibiotics, she acquired a raging yeast infection causing her unspeakable discomfort. I wrote her back and told her that coincidentally; I was going to the theater that same night to review a play called Yeast Nation. We laughed at the timeliness of this play opening and I promised to dedicate this review to her infection and so, this one’s for you dear.

Yeast; the special ingredient in bread and beer, the cause of bodily irritation the likes of which can make you pray for a quick death and, according to the premise of this profoundly silly musical, the beginning of life on earth. Depending on your parameters of acceptable ridiculousness, you may or may not be drawn in by a singing and dancing colony of primordial yeast – all named Jan. I for one find the notion of anthropomorphic single-celled organism hamming it up for a crowd to be perfectly wonderful. I’ll go so far as to call it camp-tastic!

American Theater Company delivers up a playfully enthusiastic Chicago Premiere of Yeast Nation (the triumph of life). The Tony Award-winning creators of Urinetown, Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis, have fashioned a parody/homage to the experimental theater and rock musicals of the 1970s that is just idiotic enough to work.

Time traveling back to 3,000,458,000 B.C. to watch the personal struggles and political conflicts of a colony of salt-eating yeasts sing and dance their way to the next level of evolution is just the kind ‘what the hell were they thinking?’ premise that proves anything is possible on-stage. As long as it’s fun we’ll buy it and Yeast Nation (the triumph of life) is most certainly fun. Catchy tunes and outlandish exposition prevent the production or the audience from taking the ‘drama’ too seriously and frees us up to sit back and enjoy the prehistoric absurdity.

I could rave or rant about ATC’s production but what rises to the surface and places Yeast Nation on your shopping list is a balls out brilliant performance by the incomparable Barbara Robertson. Robertson has delivered a seemingly endless list of powerful performances in a wide variety of roles. Her range and talent are obvious every time she takes the stage. From Shakespeare to Albee or musicals to melodrama, she is that dream addition to a cast that can make or break its level of success. As Jan the Unnamed, the learned leader of Yeast Nation’s facsimile to a Greek chorus, she explodes with insane energy. She gives the camp absurdity of watching yeasts prance around on stage a demanding credibility. The whole proposition is child’s play without the tongue-in-cheek humor, heart attack focus and dramatic depth that she adds to the storytelling.

Plus, Robertson dons a set of special effect contact lenses for the part, conjuring a freakishly fantastic look and proving that she will go to any length to create the complete illusion of her character. If you’re already a fan of Robertson you won’t want to miss her in this bizarre role. If you’ve never seen her before, you’ll love her after seeing Yeast Nation.

Director PJ Paparelli compiles a strong and likeable ensemble. The look of the production does not achieve its fantastic spectacle potential but is whimsically cartoonish and makes good use of the space. The solo vocals are uneven. The choral work is wonderful. The sound balance is noticeably and annoyingly off. At times we struggle to hear the principle characters over the band. In a musical, especially when the actors are wearing taped on headset microphones, this sloppy and distracting.

Sometimes a Chicago production redefines a play, makes it its own, sets an incomparable standard. ATC’s Yeast Nation (the triumph of life) is not groundbreaking but the delightful songs, preposterously funny story and dedicated cast make it a total hoot and Barbara Robertson’s performance alone is well worth the price of admission. It’s an entertaining yeast infection that will make you forget about the toothaches of life!

3 STARS

(”Yeast Nation (the triumph of life)” has been extended through November 8 at American Theater Company, 1909 West Byron St. 773-409-4125.)

American Theater Company

Yeast Nation production photos by Michael Brosilow.

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