Radiant Vermin

Emilie Krause, Eleni Delpoulos &
Adam Hammet

Inis Nua Theatre Company, located in the Louis Bluver Theater at The Drake, 302 S. Hicks Street, is presenting the Philadelphia premiere of Radiant Vermin through November 6. Multi-Award winning playwright Philip Ridley has written a cheeky satire about the lengths that “good people” will go to get their piece of the American Dream. This is a macabre masterpiece somewhat reminiscent of Sweeny Todd. Ollie (Adam Hammet) and Jill (Emilie Krause) are offered a free house in a blighted area by government realtor Miss Dee (Eleni Delopoulos) with the sole stipulation that they enhance the property to encourage others to move into the neighborhood. After Ollie accidently kills an interloper from a nearby  homeless camp, a designer kitchen replete with self-replenishing refrigerator  mysteriously appears in place of the dead body. What might happen, Jill muses, if Ollie were to lure a few more homeless into their home? Why a Lamborghini in the driveway, of course. It is such a small path from stopping an intruder to actively recruiting “regenerators” to come into the home with the promise of a hot bath and a free meal. To add to the fun, audience members are invited to vote on which part of the house should be “renovated” next. British actor Adam Hammet and Philadelphia native Emilie Krause are unflappable as Ollie and Jill establishing their Dream Home. Portraying every character in their neighborhood at a fast-paced birthday party 18 months later, they are incredibly quick and witty. It is near the final moments of the production, however, that the audience gets sucker-punched. “Just ponder this choice. Think of the freezing homeless," Jill opines. "Wouldn’t they be better off out of the cold…. as a coffee table?” For more information or tickets, call (215) 454-9776 or visit online at inisnuatheatre.org.