REVIEW: The Shawshank Redemption

© Jack Merriman

As temperatures heated up outside the theatre they soared even higher as the curtain opened on a stage adaptation of a classic Hollywood film.

The Shawshank Redemption is now playing at The Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham.

Stephen King’s 1982 novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, which explored themes of freedom and friendship, was turned into a critically-acclaimed film in 1994 - which garnered seven Oscar nominations - and it still continues to chart highly in Best Film lists to this day.

The story follows the trials and horrors faced by a man who is handed two life sentences by a judge for the murder of his wife and her lover. Despite his innocence, Andy Dufresne is sent into a virtual hellhole of a maximum security penitentiary called Shawshank where everything is plunged in darkness, pain, degradation, and daily violence.

The sharp clanging sound of prison doors snapping shut greets the audience as the curtain rises upon a grim and grey space where newly arrived prisoners are lining up to receive their prison fatigues by the frosty and forbidding guards.

Despite the hostile and violent life inside the prison, Dufresne finds some light and hope in the form of a fellow prisoner named Ellis ‘Red’ Redding. Red offers Dufresne one of the rarest treasures a man can offer a fellow human being - redemption in the shape of friendship.

The Shawshank Redemption stage adaptation is not a replication of the film, it carves out its own path. The stage version, adapted by Owen O’Neill and Dave Johns, makes a few changes and tweaks from the film but keeps the core story intact. In fact, this version is much closer to King’s original novella than the movie adaptation.

The idea that society dares to contain the spirit of man behind bars is explored through the plight of some of the prisoners incarcerated inside the depraved and inhuman confines of Shawshank. The play also exposes the horror of being abandoned, of being cast adrift upon a lonely and merciless sea where men are drowning in mental and physical pain.

However, despite the inhumanity and the abuse of power by those in positions of authority, the play also underlines the grace of the human soul to rise above the violent, to rise above the mud and dirt of this world, and to strife for something more sublime and spiritually uplifting.

The actors in this Bill Kenwright production have a mammoth task because they stand under the long shadow cast by the stars of the original Hollywood film.

The cast and crew of this stage play rise valiantly to the task and emerge from the powerful residue left by the memorable film to give performances that are distinctive and original.

Joe McFadden (Holby City, Casualty) takes on the role of Dufresne which was played by Tim Robbins in the original film. McFadden stamps his own mark upon the character with a calm and calculated exterior that keeps the rage from breaking out and consuming Dufresne, and within a short space of time he inhabits the essence and spirit of the tormented and tortured prisoner. He makes the audience feel his inner anguish and emotional turmoil as he tries to navigate his way through the nightmarish world of Shawshank.

Red, who was so memorably played by a magisterial and profoundly moving Morgan Freeman in the Hollywood movie, is here played by Ben Onwukwe (Holby City, Eastenders, Coronation Street). Onwukwe uses his sonorous voice to weave a warm and hypnotic spell that produces a myriad of emotions as the story moves from the depths of despair to hope and light - and redemption - as the drama hurtles towards a poetic and poignant climax.

There were some technical issues with the sound microphones which resulted in vocals getting distorted, including high and low fluctuations in tones which distracted and took the attention away from the drama. Hopefully these issues will be addressed and ironed out for the next performance.

The muted and minimalist art and set designs by Gary McCann allows the senses to home in on the inner tragedies being nursed by the prisoners, and the guards, and there is no clutter on the stage to distract from the psychological drama.

The multilayered use of music helps to recreate the era in which the tale is set, and Andy Graham’s tense sound design - such as cells doors opening and slamming, prisoners and guards marching down corridors, etc - add atmospheric layers which heightens the drama.

Chris Davey’s steely blue lighting, with dark pools of eerie shadows, helps to dress and cloak the stage in layers of inky Film Noir ambivalence.

This theatrical adaptation of The Shawshank Redemption is an intimate and emotional experience that lingers in the mind.

 Verdict: ★★★★

The Shawshank Redemption is running at The Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham until Saturday 30th May