Central Standard "Steady Rain" review by timlovestheatre

"Steady Rain" finds the right formula

Rating: 4

A Steady Rain

Central Standard Theatre

It's a simple formula really.  It goes like this:
Great script + talented cast + a company willing to take a risk + experience + good designers = Amazing night of theatre!

Don't like the Math?  Maybe you will like the breakdown instead.

Great script
Playwright Keith Huff provides the script.  A twisting, tense and fascinating script described by the Chicago Tribune as "a gritty, rich, thick, poetic and entirely gripping noir tale."  Told in two parts it is a shocking tale of a couple of Chicago cops.    The Broadway production famously starred Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig and claims to have broken the record for the highest weekly gross of a non-musical production on Broadway.

Talented cast
We need two masculine, troubled and intense men.  If Scott Cordes and Forrest Attaway are not at the top of your list, something is wrong with your list.  Both men were making waves at this year's Fringe Festival, Cordes in "Caldwell's Bomb" and Attaway with his script "Doubt."

A company willing to take a risk
When producing a tense play with language and situations that would make Mamet proud you need an innovative and daring producer.  Central Standard Theatre, the brainchild of Bob Paisley, is just such a company.  Paisley does double duty as producer and director and with the help of assistant director Erin Merritt finds a delicate balance from the twin jets of Attaway and Cordes.

Experience
The combined team of Attaway, Cordes and Paisley has plenty of experience working both sides of the curtain as actors and directors.  That kind of experience is invaluable in delivering this passionate story.

Good designers
Good designers make smart choices and Gregory Casparian's lights and John Story's sound designs are definitely smart choices.  Casparian devised lighting that underlined the story beats, aided the transitions and provided weight to the drama.  Mr. Story formed a tapestry that created place and added to the tension.

Amazing night of theatre!
And there you have it.  Now add it all up to equal a great night of theatre in Kansas City.

But there is one negative number in our formula. You only have a few nights left to catch this show!  See it the 16th at 2:00 pm; the 19th thru the 22nd at 7:30 pm and the final show on the 23rd at 2:00 pm.  Shows are at the Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre, 3614 Main Street, KCMO 64111.

See the Central Standard Theatre website for more at:  http://cstkc.com/