A STEADY RAIN Comes to Actors Theatre at Playhouse on the Park, Now thru Nov 10

Actors Theatre's anticipated return to Valley stages begins tonight, Oct. 25 with A Steady Rain that the Chicago Tribune described as "a gritty, rich, thick, poetic and entirely gripping noir tale of two Chicago police officers whose inner need to serve and protect both consumes them and rips them apart."

This pitch black comedy will run through Nov. 10 at Playhouse on the Park at the Viad Corporate Center (box office: 602-888-0368), 1850 N. Central Ave. Tickets are $20-$45 and are on sale at www.actorstheatrephx.org.

A Steady Rain is the first of four plays Actors Theatre will stage during the 2013-14 season. Good People will run from April 26-May 11 at a venue that will be announced later this year. Two others will run from Jan. 10-26 and June 7-22. The names and venues also will be announced later this year.

In February, Actors Theatre announced it was "taking a pause" to redesign its business model and consider future plans that included leaving the Herberger Theater Center as a resident company after more than 20 years.

A Steady Rain will be directed by Anthony Runfola, whose directing credentials include productions for Childsplay, Stray Cat Theatre, Actor's Renaissance Theatre, Black Theatre Troupe and Ensemble Theatre. He is an alumnus of Arizona State University and the Lincoln Center Theater Director's Lab.

Joseph Kremer, who most recently appeared in Actors Theatre's production of Dead Man's Cell Phone, and veteran Valley actor Christopher Haines take on the roles of the two Windy City cops in A Steady Rain, which explores the complexities of a lifelong bond forged on the rough streets of Chicago. Joey and Denny have been best friends since kindergarten, and after working together for several years, they are practically family. But when a domestic disturbance call takes a turn for the worse, their friendship is put on the line.

For more information, visit www.actorstheatrephx.org.