Having written episodes for TV shows like Mad Men, House of Cards and American Crime, you’d expect Keith Huff
to be a dab hand when it comes to crime drama. It turns out, you’d be expecting
too much.
The problem is, the narrative of A Steady Rain (first performed on Broadway in 2009 by Hugh Jackman
and Daniel Craig) just doesn’t translate to the stage. Set in present day Chicago,
it follows two cops – one good, one bad; one alcoholic, one racist; one who
cheats on his wife, the other who falls for the wife – as the weight of
responsibility pushes their friendship to the limits. Too frequently it borders
on pastiche and falls prey to the usual noir tropes: a femme fatale, corrupt
cops taking the law into their own hands, the titular rain pattering away in
the background, and endless monologues.
And boy are those monologues endless. Huff’s main error is
telling, rather than showing, the details of the plot. There are moments of
genuine excitement here, with tense shootouts, cars speeding down highways,
passionate lovemaking and relationships fracturing through arguments. Yet we
never see any of it. You get the sense that Huff is thinking cinematically, but
watching this play feels more like listening to an audiobook version of a noir
film. The dialogue is relentless and it takes some time to tune into its pacey
rhythm, even if it never quite generates enough forward momentum.
That said, there’s a genuinely gripping story underneath it
all. It might be based on cliché and stereotypes and is for the most part
fairly predictable, but it’s a story you’ll want to follow through to its
conclusion. Vincent Regan excels as the gruff Denny whose brash arrogance causes
his family to slip through his fingers like raindrops, whilst David Schaal’s
Joey is a calming and sympathetic stage presence. The writing may not offer
much nuance, but the actors certainly do their best to bring this story off the
page.
Ed Ullyart’s set design and Simon Bedwell’s lighting also
provide plenty of melancholic moody style, the monochromatic colour scheme and
stark lighting creating a modern noir ambience that suits the intimacy of the
space. And when that steady rain does eventually fall at the back of the stage
in the play’s climactic moments, it is quite chilling.
3/5
Watch: A Steady Rain runs
at the Arcola Theatre until 5th March.
Photos: Nick Rutter
