Radiant Vermin at NLT - Are You a Good Person? Am I?

Last weekend I took in the opening night of Radiant Vermin presented by Northern Light Theatre in the Studio Theatre at the Fringe Theatre Arts Barns. Holy moly what a show! I had seen a bit at the season launch last spring, and had some ideas about what I was in for, but nothing really could’ve prepared me. What the audience is in for is a little bit of a wild ride! We get a hint of what’s coming in the first scene when Ollie and Jill, a young couple played by Eli Yaschuk and Rain Matkin, tell us that they’ve just experienced the garden party from hell, and then they tell us how they got there…

Photos by Brianne Jang, BB Collective Photography.

Ollie and Jill are a young couple with a baby on the way wanting to move out of their terrible living situation in a run down apartment complex and find their (unaffordable) dream home. After receiving a cryptic letter, they’re approached by Miss Dee (Holly Turner in a striking array of stylish costumes) who tells them they are selected for a special program where they will get their very own fixer-upper house free of charge that they can DIY into their very own dream home. The bones of the house are perfect, and although it needs a lot of work, they jump at the chance because Ollie is very handy and Jill is an interior-design savant. They’ve already warned us that they did terrible things to get their dream house and what follows is indeed a litany of the terrible things they’ve done. Here’s where it gets hard. I don’t wanna spoil anything. Suffice it to say the homeless and itinerant population are sacrificed so that Ollie and Jill can have their dream house. 

Photos by Brianne Jang, BB Collective Photography.

It's fabulously funny, and I was laughing aloud at so many moments in the show along with the rest of the audience. The last 20 minutes is non-stop hysterical and it was hard to stop laughing! Yaschuk and Matkin have brilliant chemistry with each other and both have a physical vocabulary that belies their young years (they are relatively new grads from the MacEwan Theatre Arts Program). Turner is the temptress that pulls no punches. Director Trevor Schmidt has created a show that is tight and dramatic and, did I mention, hilarious. The piece is supported by Matt Schuurman's amazing projection work and tight choreography from Ainsley Hillyard. This is probably the best show I have seen all season... I'm not joking or exaggerating.

Now, it's not just a "fun" show and I haven't wanted to give too much detail because I do not want to spoil anything. It also a play you leave thinking and talking about, providing a great comment on the consumerist society we live in and how those that want and have and get, find it very easy to forget about those that have absolutely nothing. I found myself thinking about my friends with perfect houses (from my perspective) who talked about needing to renovate this room or that room because they were 5-10 years out-of-date... I found myself thinking about how often I order online, just because... It asks the question, What would you do if it would give you everything you wanted? And then it asks, What if you wanted more? Would you do more terrible things? You can donate to the food bank if you're in any way worried about your answer...

Radiant Vermin runs to May 3rd . Tickets start at $37 but there are also pay-what-you-can and 2 for 1 Nights. You can purchase your tickets here. The space is small and this is such a good show, I would grab them quick!