Classic film finds life on Sydney stage

A top cast has been assembled for the new Ensemble Theatre production of Rain Man, which opens in Sydney this week before it heads on tour.

The stage production of Rain Man is an intimate adaptation of the Oscar winning film about two brothers who find themselves in each other.

Charlie Babbitt (Alex Dimitriades) is in crisis. His business is about to go under, his girlfriend, Susan (Catherine McGraffin), is going to leave him and he’s just learned that his father has died, leaving his $7 million fortune in trust to an unknown beneficiary.

Charlie’s journey to claim his inheritance begins at the Wallbrook Institution where he discovers Raymond (Daniel Mitchell), an autistic savant with an extraordinary gift for numbers who happens to be his older brother. What begins as a kidnapping attempt leads Charlie and Raymond on a road trip of discovery beyond the hospital gates and into a world of love and understanding.

Director, Sandra Bates has assembled a stellar cast of actors including Alex Dimitriades (TV: The Heartbreak Kid, Underbelly, Blue Murder, and Wildside. Film: La Spagnola, Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo, Ghost Ship) in his debut stage appearance at Ensemble as Charlie. The cast also includes Ensemble stalwarts Gary Baxter (Little Nell, McReele, Simpson J); Daniel Mitchell (Brooklyn Boy, Tuesdays With Morrie, Mary Stuart, Drawer Boy, Hamlet, Art, The Price); Catherine McGraffin (The Ruby Sunrise, Trying, Death of a Salesman, Charitable Intent); Paul Gleeson (The Ruby Sunrise, Stella By Starlight, All My Sons) and Matilda Ridgway (Brooklyn Boy, The Ruby Sunrise).

The original film version of Rain Man was a massive hit. It starred Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise, and won four Oscars in 1989.

Rain Man opens at the Ensemble Theatre in Sydney this week, before touring to Canberra, Belrose, Penrith and Woollongong.

Bookings: (02) 9929 0644.