A Steady Rain - Arcola Theatre (Review)
Review by Shanna Schreuder
THE latest production of Keith Huff’s A Steady Rain, with Vincent Regan and David Schaal, demonstrates how excellent writing and taut acting can create a tense cop drama without the need for a large-scale TV budget.
Born and raised in Chicago, policeman and proud family-man Denny (Vincent Regan) and his partner, Joey (David Schaal), have been best friend since “kinnygarten”.
Determined to keep Joey off the sauce and show him a better way of life, Denny invites him over for dinner most nights of the weeks. “You show a non-starter like this the good life, beautiful house, beautiful wife, beautiful kids, a dog, all these TVs, it can have kind of a reformative effect, right?” It’s a statement that Joey whole-heartedly agrees with, but going along with what Denny says and does seems to be the norm when it comes to their relationship.
However, this looks set to be tested when a bullet is shot through Denny’s living-room window, causing serious injury to his youngest child.
Constructed as a dialogue between the two characters and the audience, A Steady Rain is an intense piece that works really well in the intimate setting of The Arcola Theatre.
To help create the tension before it even begins, director Andrew Pearson has instructed Regan and Schaal to be on stage while the audience comes in to find their seats. A smart technique, as it works to conjure up the familiar feeling of sitting on the sofa watching a DVD running on a loop while you wait for the rest of the gang to settle down before you press play.
Both Regan and Schaal deliver outstanding performances and, along with Huff’s rich script, make us care about characters that we don’t necessarily like. But then the best theatre challenges perceptions and gives audiences plenty to chew on – and A Steady Rain offers a veritable feast.
For more information or to book tickets, visit www.arcolatheatre.com/event/a-steady-rain/.
Photo credit: Nick Rutter.
A Steady Rain
Arcola Theatre
From Feb 10 – March 5, 2016