The Rainmaker: Why We Keep Reviving That Old Chestnut

Santa Monica's Edgemar Center has a new production

Comments (0) By Steven Leigh Morris Thursday, Jan 17 2013

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This style almost goes off the rails when Standley's Starbuck waltzes in, licking his lips at Lizzie and making his promises to save the farm — promises that threaten to make fools of people who are suffering and desperate.

The production is saved in part by its linchpin, Frederick's droll, rat-smart Lizzie. With subtlety and composure that often belies the text, she knows who she is and what she wants. Though the play is over-written, Frederick's performance lies so entrenched beneath the lines, it's as though she absorbs the play's excesses so that they don't even show.

PHOTO BY RON VIGNONE

David Garver, left, Stephen Howard, Tanna Frederick and Benjamin Chamberlain

Location Info

Map

Edgemar Center for the Arts

2437 Main St.
Santa Monica, CA 90405

Category: Community Venues

Region: Santa Monica

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Her terrific performance is not enough to turn the play into a classic, but it does provide enough of an emotional pull to reveal the reasons why it keeps getting staged.