Rain Man

This adaptation of the film by Bill Kenwright is a tale of two halves.

This is America in 1988, and opens with Ed Speleer’s Charlie Babbit, the foul-mouthed hustler, in full-throttle. He is mean-spirited, an LA scrooge, holding nothing back. The scene-changes and music are rapid and jarring, but its breathless and compelling.

It is during the second act that we begin to see the deepening of the characters, with Matthew Horne the stand-out, his Raymond a truly excellent blend of humour and sensitivity in a role that could so easily be overwrought. And by the end, it brings the house down. Not bad, for the opening night.

Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne, 18 September 2018

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