Radiant Vermin

"Directed at a bouncy pace by David Mercatali...'Radiant Vermin' is a blithely told fable for the age of unaffordable housing...A little over 90 minutes, it is probably too long for its pithy purposes. Once you grasp its basic conceit, there aren’t too many places for it to go…'Radiant Vermin' by Mr. Ridley’s standards is unusually blunt in its moralizing and unusually direct in implicating its audience. Still, it makes for nasty and energetic fun." Full Review

"A witty, if overextended, black comic sketch...Johnson and Verey have the knack of creating a pair of cartoon figures who are just enough like real people to make them impossible to dismiss....Director David Mercatali has found exactly the right satirical tone...'Radiant Vermin' makes its points early and often, but Jill and Ollie make a fine pair of unreliable narrators, and their tale is presented with considerable verve and wit...It's impossible not to feel the sting." Full Review

"Ridley’s play is not only a grotesque satire on dealing with those useless people we call 'homeless,' but on consumer excess, greed, the problems of home ownership, and the distorted preoccupations of obsessive child-raising...A serious problem, though, is that once the play has made its point it keeps circling back with very little place to go, and drags on far longer than is necessary." Full Review

"In order to go along with the mounting macabre proceedings, patrons have to believe that the two homemakers are extremely gullible when Miss Dee first appears, but maybe that’s easily enough done...During a lengthy prior-to-closing sequence, the actors play all the neighbors who show up for their offspring’s first birthday party. It’s a tour de force with an emphasis on the force." Full Review

"'Vermin' is a cheeky and sanitized allegory taking aim at young parents who will do anything in the name of their new baby…Verey and Johnson convey the tale directly to the audience with ample amounts of physical comedy and high-speed patter…More a storytelling machine than fleshed-out characters, Verey and Johnson run the risk of becoming unsympathetic, or worse, uninteresting. Fortunately, Ridley gives each role one dollop of depth, just enough to be likable." Full Review

"It’s a superbly funny abstract comedy...I was blown away with the final birthday party scene, in full amazement of their ability to give us the rapid-fire delivery of all these characters and moments without missing a beat...My heart was racing when, magically, they stop and revert back to asking us directly, 'What do we value the most? Property or life?' And then, they ask us our verdict. My verdict was a standing ovation." Full Review

"Ms. Johnson and Mr. Verey are excellent as Jill and Ollie, but, at least as directed by David Mercatali, their characters are basically cartoonish caricatures out of an ironic fairy tale. Thus, the play foregoes a sense of creepy horror that might have raised our level of concern…It is Jill and Ollie's ability to self-justify their every greed-driven decision that gives the play its only real bite, even as it all-too-gently attempts to make the audience feel complicit in the enterprise." Full Review

“Playwright Philip Ridley’s black comedy is timely, original, and skillfully produced. Even when you realize what’s going on, small surprises and manifest reactions make taking the trip a buoyant pleasure. Ridley’s ending is priceless. Director David Mercatali straddles stylization (exaggerated, precise, sometimes incredibly rapid movement) and naturalism. The empty stage is well utilized with cogent mime. No point in analyzing. It works.” Full Review

"Superb, playful writing, zany, magical plot arcs, pristine characterizations, and acutely rhythmic and cleverly paced humor throughout. Ridley adroitly manages to be paradoxical, ironic, satiric by using hyperbole and understatement in tropes that hit the bull's-eye of truth...It’s the marvelous divine comedy with all its beauty and ugliness and you won’t stop talking about it much after the lights come up at the end." Full Review

""Often hilarious and at times rather poignant, Ridley’s contemporary new play is a 90-minute frenzied fall down one couple’s materialistic rabbit hole...It’s in the performances by Johnson and Verey, and their complete physical involvement in describing every detail, that we are able to vividly imagine what each scene must look like...Director David Mercatali is a genius in his direction of 'Radiant Vermin'...A wildly hilarious, dark, and incredibly fun look into serious first-world obsession." Full Review

"Johnson and Verey nail the yuppie vibe in their chipper and tireless performances…Original, entertaining, and witty, in addition to offering what is probably a field day for its nimble performers. The play is stymied, though, as it becomes mired in contradictions. The story is so absurd that it's hard for it to have a strong, resonant emotional impact. Meanwhile, its darkness curtails the humor that could be found in this absurdity." Full Review

“The outstanding cast delivers exhilarating performances under David Mercatali’s brisk direction. Ms. Johnson and Mr. Verey share a wonderful chemistry...Mr. Mercatali helps the duo achieve a satisfying balance between their use of theatrical grammar and the fact that the storytellers, Jill and Ollie, are not themselves performers. The result is a slightly less 'actorly' but more intimate and inclusive telling.” Full Review

"Bitingly droll up to a point, but after Jill and Ollie have lost their souls there’s nowhere for the plot to go...The story spins its wheels for too long before the denouement arrives. David Mercatali’s direction is clear and brisk, and it’s fun to see the normally somber Ridley exploring his comedic side. But the satire here seems unfocused. To be sure, the rampant consumerism of today’s society is a deserving target for ridicule, but that alone is not enough to fill a full-length play." Full Review

“Ridley is known for examining the darker side of humanity, and ‘Radiant Vermin’ is no exception...Between Ridley’s fantastical writing, Mercatali’s direction, and Verey and Johnson’s acting, numerous neighbors come to life in a frenzy of mime, dialect, and comedic timing...Verey and Johnson are the heart of this fast-paced black comedy, delivering Ridley’s satiric dialogue...If this is the best Britain has to export, long live Brits Off Broadway.” Full Review

"A horrifyingly humorous play…The plot is madness, but the charisma of the two leads allows you to buy the craziness with few questions. Their stunning portrayal of the moral disintegration of the two protagonists leaves you uncomfortable. Verey and Johnson are exceptional in this play…You will laugh and drop your jaw at the physical and spiritual stamina they use to keep you enthralled…Ultimately, the play is a riveting look into the power of money and greed." Full Review

"A gripping dark comedy, adroitly directed by David Mercatali...Ms. Johnson is the pick of a stellar cast, whose talent is sensibly allowed to shine unadulterated against the backdrop of an admirably spare and uncluttered set. Think of Lady Macbeth midwifing Rosemary’s Baby to get some sense of the demonic kinetic energy she summons…A play whose central message has never been more of the moment." Full Review

“David Mercatali’s direction is brisk and brutally bouncy...An absurdist satire, at once an indictment against not only the housing crisis, but our godless society and social indifference toward the less fortunate...Why do we find this humorous and entertaining?...A distance has been created by the playwright between the word and the reality of the action through humor, clever dialogue and the virtuosity of the actors to use pantomime to create their slow progress into hell.” Full Review