Walnut Street Theatre Studio 3 presents Keith Huff's 'A Steady Rain'

That's not too far off from its themes. Huff’s 2006 drama pits two Chicago street cops against each other: Joey, played by Keith J. Conallen, and Denny, played by Marc D. Donovan. They face off on Thom Weaver’s long, narrow set, audience on two sides with only three rows per side. Weaver puts a decrepit drop ceiling with water stains and broken tiles above us, firmly trapping us in the room with the lifelong friends.

Archetypes collide

A Steady Rain’s brother-against-brother tale is the oldest story in the book. Huff uses clichés to create his cops, particularly Denny, whose slicked-back hair, handlebar moustache, and leather jacket make him a familiar outlaw cop, while Conallen’s the stereotypical clean-cut, suit-and-tie type (costumes by Jill Keys). But Huff’s lean, gritty dialogue, Fran Prisco’s smart direction, and the actors’ intense commitment lift this play above its familiar aspects.

The 90-minute drama builds forcefully. We soon learn that both men were passed over for a detective position, allegedly to favor minorities. Denny has trouble relating to nonwhites in civil terms and resists Joey’s tutoring in racial diplomacy. Joey’s loneliness and alcoholism have led Denny and wife Connie to shelter him, providing meals Joey appreciates and less-welcome blind dates with available women.

Huff skillfully combines their personal tensions with policing problems. Denny is “greased by pros,” prostitutes who pay him to protect them from their pimps. He calls it “free enterprise” and part of his responsibility to “serve and protect.” Joey realizes Denny’s also becoming a pimp. When Denny uses violence to protect a woman, the situation escalates, leading to an oversight with life-and-death repercussions.

Storytelling skill

Huff maintains his characters’ verbal limits — not only their strong Chicago accents, but their street-bound imaginations — while crafting a suspenseful story from their interactions, punctuated by frequent narration. They sometimes contradict each other with conflicting versions of events.

“Denny accuses me of trying to leach the testosterone out of the world,” Joey tells us. Denny admits to lying, but explains, “I’m full of shit, but one on one, I always keep my word.” Conallen and Donovan believably create the bonds not only between Joey and Denny, but also between the story’s many supporting characters.

The action reveals damning differences in their core values without resorting to speechmaking or editorializing; we decipher their ethics from their actions, which creates more suspense than the play’s violent twists and requires more attention than mere mayhem does. What starts as a typical cop drama takes on operatic dimensions as Denny and Joey confront their deepest dilemmas.

A Steady Rain was a Broadway hit in 2009 (thanks in part to Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig’s star power), but feels more at home in the Walnut’s 85-seat studio. Prisco’s expertly paced, in-your-face production maintains a noir feel beyond the set’s grimy sparseness, the lighting’s moody dimness, and the powerful punch of Christopher Colucci’s sound effects (particularly the ongoing rain). Their noir is neither affectation or homage, but a lens through which we witness this powerful tale.