This week, The Old Joint Stock presents A Steady Rain, a gritty two-hander written by American playwright and screenwriter, Keith Huff. The show is the latest of the theatre’s in-house productions which bring less well-known but highly regarded works onto the venue’s intimate stage. The great strength of these in-house shows is that the productions are created with the theatre’s unique space in mind - leaning into the dramatic possibilities of the close distance between the performers and audience.

The play concerns a pair of Chicago beat cops - Denny (Steven Rostance) and Joey (Graham MacDonnell) - telling their sides of a tragic story, in which their personal lives and professional responsibilities are both put to the test. 

There are allusions to the crimes of an unnamed serial killer, and the tension in the play builds as it becomes clear how Joey and Denny are involved in that grizzly case. However, the two characters’ relationship (they’ve known each other since ‘Kinnygarden’) and decisions that they make in their personal lives are what looms largest, as the drama unfolds. 

The staging consists of filing cabinets, a desk and a cassette recorder, creating the familiar picture of an interview room in a crime drama. Against the back wall is a map of Chicago, and eagle-eyed audience members might pick up a hint or two from the pictures and locations marked out with red string. 

Although the action does drop into this interview room at times, the majority of the story takes place elsewhere, and it’s easy to forget the actors’ physical surroundings - assisted by the dramatic lighting and sound design (by Joanne Marshall and Stewart Crank, respectively) which include more than a couple of jump-scare-like surprises.

The play - which was first staged in 2007 - is set in the ‘not too distant past’, and it's clear to see that the story’s relevance has only grown in subsequent years, with increased media coverage and discussion of racism and violence perpetrated by police officers, particularly in the USA. 

Both characters are deeply flawed: Joey hit the bottle after being passed over for promotion, and Denny refuses to understand how his words and outlook might be viewed as inappropriate. Both men make mistakes and do bad things - but Denny brings Joey back from rock bottom, and Joey coaches his buddy to change his behaviour. The characters are complex and engaging, a credit to the performances, writing, and staging.

A Steady Rain is a deep dive into what happens when mistakes are made, who takes accountability, and how events unfold in the aftermath - and, with only three more performances at The Old Joint Stock, for fans of gritty crime drama it’s a show not to be missed.

Four Stars

A Steady Rain was reviewed by Jessica Clixby on Thursday 17 October at The Old Joint Stock, Birmingham, where it runs until Saturday 19 October.

Photo Credit: Perro Loco Productions