With only themselves and two chairs on a bare stage, Craig and Jackman tell a tale of a family and a friendship torn apart by a vengeful pimp and a serial killer. They sometimes interact, sometimes re-enact, and often just relate the lurid events that mark the downward spiral of their relationship.
▶ ‘A Steady Rain’
Through Dec. 6
Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre
236 W. 45th St.
$66.50-$130
212-239-6200
www.telecharge.com
Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig, an Aussie and a Brit, are two Chicago cops who let their personal lives get in the way of their professional judgment in “A Steady Rain” at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre. Craig slides into the role of Joey, the less volatile half of the duo, childhood pals who grew up to be squad car partners. Sporting a moustache and a working class Chicago accent, he immediately dispels any echo of movie star glamour. That’s less true of Jackman. His Denny is larger than life: charismatic, bullheaded, and explosive in huge doses. Playwright Keith Huff is so determined to establish Denny as colorful that he overwrites the role, part of the reason Jackman takes a while to find his footing.
It’s also why “A Steady Rain” can seem forced, but Huff doesn’t give you much time to think about it.
He moves the compelling plot at a breakneck pace, the tension steadily mounting to a wrenching crescendo. Jackman, who eventually settles into his character, rises to the occasion but never quite wears his role as a second skin the way Craig does.