Human beings have the ability to be quite disgusting when it comes to the choices they make about others, and this dark, satirical comedy makes us truly question it. Radiant Vermin is about a husband and wife being given the opportunity to renovate a new home for free, but at a cost much greater than money. You are, quite literally, posed the question “What would you do?” and although, I would hope, the answer of each audience member was the same, you can’t help but believe there are people out there who would undertake quite a loathsome act for the perfect home. Philip Ridley’s work presents us as we really are in barbarically truthful ways, and this most certainly follows suit. The style is very Godber-esque; a dynamic three-hander with little-to-no props, multi-rolling and the set a stark white box. It was a pleasure to see such simplicity when given so fantastical an idea to focus on, having anything more would have been difficult to swallow. However, there are moments when the staging was rushed, with the ideas of where rooms should be being changed throughout (possibly aided by lighting perhaps?), and although the script lends itself to be fast-paced and lively, there were points when it became a little too quick for even the performers (there was one moment when the lack of control made me feel uneasy… and not in the best way). That being said, the actors were skilled at bringing us in and gave us an energy we just had to follow. All three were fun, open, confident, at times deliciously frantic, and at times tearfully heart-warming. Get lost in fantasy, question your humanity, bathe in the realms of Ridley… Go and see it!

​

Daniel Thomas