‘Simply brilliant’ is Fiona Adam's verdict on 'Rain Man' featuring Gavin & Stacey's Mathew Horne at the Richmond Theatre until the 10th November.
Details
Venue: Richmond Theatre, Richmond
Dates & Opening Times:
November 6th - November 10th 2018, 7.30 pm
Tickets: From £15.40
Our Verdict
Going to see a play that originated as a movie is a bit like going to see a film that is based on a book: you know you loved the original and you’re not quite sure that this new version is going to live up to expectations. This is exactly the feeling I had before the Classic Screen to Stage Theatre Company production of Dan Gordon’s Rain Man at Richmond Theatre. However, aside from a slight condensing of the story – which is largely unavoidable on stage –, I am pleased to report that I was far from disappointed.
For those for whom the storyline is a little fuzzy, Rain Man follows the reacquaintance of two brothers. Charlie is a cocky, car salesman wide boy with a chip on his shoulder about his father’s treatment of him and a sense of entitlement a mile wide. He discovers on his father’s death that he has an older, autistic brother, Raymond, who happens to have inherited the bulk of their sole parent’s fortune. Charlie then forces Raymond out of his safe world, as a patient in a private residence where his routine means everything, onto a road trip to LA in an effort to secure his half of the inheritance. It all starts out as a solely selfish act on Charlie’s behalf but as the play unfolds, the siblings discover memories and bonds in common. It is at turns hilarious, excruciating and touchingly emotive.
Robert Day
Starring Mathew Horne (Gavin and Stacey) as Raymond and Ed Speleers (Downton Abbey) as Charlie, it maintains the movie’s 80s vibe with a soundtrack throbbing with the likes of Guns n’ Roses, Bon Jovi, David Bowie and Cyndi Lauper. The hair is big, the clothes are baggy, the staging is fairly minimalist, but, boy, was the acting great.
Speleers is perfectly cast as the bolshy Charlie, exuding all the body language of a self-centred chancer, but Mathew Horne is, quite frankly, a revelation. You would expect him to have excellent comic timing (he has), but it is his rendering of Raymond’s character that will blow you away: his distinct vocal and physical mannerisms, such as constantly shuffling baseball cards, as well as hunched, awkward posture, all while delivering his lines with authenticity and fluency, was simply brilliant.
