The Bridge Theatre review: ‘Radiant Vermin’ – or how to beat the housing crisis

To what lengths would you go to achieve your dream home? That is the question Radiant Vermin’s main characters, young couple Jill and Ollie, asks the audience of this bitingly humorous and thought-provoking play by British playwright, storyteller and film maker Philip Ridley.

A thoroughly modern work written in 2015, Radiant Vermin by English-language The Bridge Theatre, is much more than a black comedy. It questions the basis of contemporary society – the obsession of ‘keeping up with the Joneses’, self-improvement and mindless materialism. Does anyone really need, on top of the latest gadgets and super designer kitchens, bathrooms and nursery, a wall-to-wall aquarium or interior sauna bought from the, nothing if not aptly-named, ‘Never Enough’ shopping centre?

This drama not only touches on religion – the pair met in church which heightens the horror of their actions – it also delves into darker issues of homelessness, migration and forced labour. Yes, Jill and Ollie, wonderfully portrayed by Matilda Tucker and Santino Smith, really would do anything to get their perfect pad… “Some of the things they did you might find shocking,” the introductory flyer reads. “But”, as they tell the audience several times, “they want you to know that they did it all for their baby…”

The play opens on a mysteriously fantastical note when Miss Dee (a drag queen masterfully played by Sederginne) announces to Jill and Ollie: “There are no two people more deserving” to take part in the ‘regeneration of dream houses’ project’. All they have to do is not tell the neighbours they did not pay for their new abode and sign the contract now...

Any qualms the pair may have had disappear when they see the beauty of their new house, especially compared to their shabby, dingy and even dangerous – surrounded by drug dealers and crime – former flat in  the Red Ocean Estate. They are simply seduced by the potential of luxury.

This socially aspiring couple also want to show off to their new, brash, often TV reality-type neighbours. But the ‘terrible teens’ scream “it’s a pig holocaust” and “meat is murder” at Jill’s cranberry and turkey sandwiches proudly served at their son’s first birthday garden party. Faced with the gargantuan spread complete with special punch, she admits nervously that there is “enough food to feed the third world”.

Ollie is becoming increasingly ill due to the efforts required to achieve this luxury. His wife, now pregnant with her second son, is so greedy – her eyes literally light up at the thought of ‘new stuff’ – is happier to turn a blind eye to the suffering. Indeed, when Miss Dee returns in the final act, she persuades her uneasy husband to do it all again and move to a second luxury community project.

Directed by André Agius, this latest production by The Bridge Theatre is enhanced by bright lighting, special effects and a minimalist set. It is also enlivened by classic 1980s tracks, from the Eurythmics’ Sweet Dreams to Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin’s It’s My Party and is played out by Nena’s rousing 99 Luftballons/Red Balloons.

Radiant Vermin
Until 23 November*
La Tricoterie
Rue Théodore Verhaegen 158
Saint-Gilles

*Performances on 12, 13, 14, 15, 19 and 22 November include post-show talks and Q&As with a special guest (30-45 minutes) on topics such as the cost of gentrification, homelessness, ‘a changing Brussels’ and the role of architecture in society and politics.