Review by Paul Towers, 10/10/2022
The Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King, adapted for the stage by Owen O’Neill & Dave Johns
Directed by David Esbjornson
Produced by Bill Kenwright
At Curve til Saturday 15th October 2022
“A strong production of this beloved classic ”
Many people will have seen the 1994 film with Tim
Robbins and Morgan Freeman and this stage version stays quite close to the
storyline.
Adapted from a Stephen King short story, The Shawshank Redemption is the story
of Andy Dufresne (Joe Absolom) who has been wrongly convicted of the double
murder of his unfaithful wife and their daughter. He is soon taken under the wing of Ellis ‘Red’
Redding (Ben Onwukwe), the prison supplier of all illicit goods.
While many would spend their last breath trying every way to prove their innocence Dusfresne decides to keep his head down and just try and get through his sentence with the least trouble. Unfortunately his fellow prisoners have other ideas and a vicious round of beatings and rapes force him to alter his survival strategy. Utilising his accounting abilities he inveigles himself in with the prison staff as a financial advisor. This doesn’t make him any less unpopular with the inmates but it does afford him some protection by the management.
A brutalistic set of concrete and girders by Gary McCann ensures this stage version is as claustrophobic and utilitarian as it needs to be. Furniture is carried on and off while a minimum of backdrops fly from above.
Joe Absolom has exactly the right air of naivety and innocence while Ben Onwukwe channels Morgan Freeman as the narrator addressing the audience.
The sex and violence is well choreographed while the ensemble raucously provide the chaos inherent whenever the delicate balance of power is upset.
The Shawshank Redemption continues to tour https://tinyurl.com/4bnk84z6 and is at Curve until Saturday 15 October 2022
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