ROOT VEGETABLES
a folk/rock musical
music, lyrics, book by Marc Jablonski

Three friends escape the city to build an automated utopian farm, only to discover that real growth can’t be engineered.

Hedy, an agricultural engineer, dreams of building an invention that will allow any crop to grow anywhere, no matter the soil or climate as a technological solution to climate change. She convinces her friends Psy and Caz to join her on the farm, where they hope to build a queer utopia away from capitalism and burnout.

At first, the project seems hopeful, but reality seeps in. Months of failed harvests, isolation, and exhaustion strain their ideals. Hedy begins hallucinating her Jewish immigrant great-great-grandfather Leib, who once farmed nearby. After a local Borscht Belt hotel burns down, she sees the community gather to clean up the ruins and realizes she cannot solve the climate crisis (or sustain a life) alone. She abandons the impossible invention and begins growing what the soil can hold: root vegetables.

Development history
Studio EP, 2025
Green Room 42 Concert, 2024
Reading, Ripley-Grier, 2023