Bill Kenwright presents the Classic Screen To Stage Theatre Company’s production of the classic Rain Main - based on the 1988 Oscar winning film of the same name (which starred Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman), which scored several Oscars including Best Picture, Best Screenplay and Best Actor for Hoffman.
Whilst I remember the film well and have fond memories of watching it on VHS with my family, it is now somewhat dated, as is the people's view towards autism and learning disabilities (thank goodness!). I had my doubts as to how it would transform to stage but it was the casting of the two Babbit brothers I particularly wanted to see.
Whilst it had the chance to be something brilliant, there were several parts of it which left me feeling deflated and rather disappointed. However Horne’s performance as the savant Raymond outweighed the negatives of this production.
The story starts at Babbit Collectables - where we meet the self-centred Charlie Babbit (‘Downton Abbey’s’ Ed Speleers in his stage debut) closing in on some business deals when he learns the news that his father has passed away. Charlie shows little sign of empathy or grief at the news and continues about his business but on hearing that a mystery beneficiary has inherited the family multi-million dollar fortune, Charlie is seething and sets out to get “his half”. It isn’t long until Charlie discovers that he has a secret brother - Raymond - an autistic savant - and that this is the person the family fortune was left to. Determined to get his hands on what he believes is rightfully his, Charlie “borrows” Raymond from the institution that has been Raymond's secure home for most of his life. The pair set off on an epic adventure travelling across America but soon Charlie discovers that Raymond has a remarkable memory - being able to memorise an entire phone book in a short space of time and having a particular skill for numbers - Charlie’s plan of action takes a twist when he realises that Raymond is worth more than he ever could have imagined.
Whilst the film focuses on the road journey, with the pair in their fathers classic 1949 Buick Roadmaster (the only thing that Charlie inherited, other than his dad's rose bushes, ironic because as a teen he would argue with his father over the car and was never allowed to drive it), we do not get to see the car in this stage adaptation. Whilst it gets a mention as Charlie learns his fate from his father's will and the pair decide to travel by car over Raymond's reluctance to fly (after he lists off all the different types of aeroplane and the dates of crashes and casualties stating they are unsafe), the majority of the production is set in hotels and motels as the pair travel across the States before arriving in Las Vegas where Charlie comes up with a cunning plan to get the $80,000 he needs to bail him out of a failed deal at work.
The stage set sadly is rather unimaginative and we only get to see Las Vegas after they have made their winnings. I say Las Vegas but in reality it was a wrinkled painted backdrop of the Vegas lights. (The lighting was so bright I could count the wrinkles in the skyline….)
Similar disappointment can be said for the lighting design - which has two features - blinding floodlights or pitch black (during a screen change). There also appeared to be a distinct lack of microphones and despite being towards the front of the stalls, the cast only had to turn their backs to the audience slightly and we lost what was being said. This wasn’t helped by a clearly faulty speaker which had a deafening buzzing noise throughout the majority of the performance.
However, Horne gave an outstanding performance as the autistic Raymond. Whilst he didn’t particularly put his own spin on the role and I got the impression that Mathew had sat down and watched Hoffman in the role on DVD for months on end to perfect the autistic characteristics he portrayed in the original film - from the constant rocking back and forth gently or the unique way in which he shuffled rather than walks to the tics and self harming slaps when he became stressed or over stimulated, Horne really had all the traits down to perfection to the point where I kept having to squint to make sure it really was Horne on stage. To have been doing this role since the 21st August when this tour started, Mathew must surely have a stiff neck and headache at the end of the night from the way he holds his head whilst in character and the real, heavy whacks to the head and face he gives himself when Raymond is over stimulated.
Whilst I wasn’t taken with Speleers portrayal of Charlie at first and found him somewhat wooden, I soon warmed up to him, particularly when the more emotionally stirring parts came up such as the moving scene where Charlie is teaching Raymond how to dance. The audience were cooing as if they had just seen a new born baby or a cute puppy at this stage, and whilst Charlie’s character is meant to be cold-hearted and self-centred at first, I still found it difficult to warm to Speleers in the role but as the story progressed so did my views towards him in the role.
Resurrecting a thirty year old film and transforming to stage is never going to be an easy task and there’s plenty of other 80s classics which probably would have worked better than Rain Man, but granted I loved the film in the 80s I was keen to see the story on stage. Whilst I wasn’t blown away I would say the production was made worthwhile for Horne’s outstanding portrayal as Raymond Babbit. The tour continues until 24th November where it comes to an end in Northampton.
Reviewer - Lottie Davis-Browne
on - 29/10/18
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