Charity has its limits in InterAct’s ‘Ritu Comes Home’

Ritu Comes Home offers a sweetly satirical perspective on charity and family structure in an America driven by globalization. Jered McLenigan and David Bardeen play Brendan and Jason — an affluent couple who enjoy drinking, shopping, and all of the luxury that comes with a home in Bryn Mawr. In this atmosphere of hyper-consumerism, the couple dotes on an “adopted” Bangladeshi teenager by way of an 80-cents-a-day donation. She grows into a teenager far from the eyes of her benefactors, but privilege stumbles when the young woman finds her way into the couple’s living room and forces them to reevaluate their donations and sense of family.

Written by Peter Gil-Sheridan and directed by Seth Rozin, the play had an experimental production as part of the InterAct 20/20 Commission, a program designed to award twenty new play commissions to projects in various development stages. Ritu Comes Home received its award in 2009 and hopes to continue the program’s successes with its run.

InterAct Theatre Company’s Ritu Comes Home runs through June 22 on the mainstage at the Adrienne Theater, 2030 Sansom Street, Philadelphia. The show contains nudity and adult content. For the full schedule, tickets, and info on special events, visit InterAct’s website or call 215-568-8079.