A wonderful, thought-provoking play about friendship, hope and life behind bars.
OUR VERDICT
Theatre Royal
Three men stand in the dim lights, holding aloft their prison uniforms, as they’re subjected to a humiliating delousing before entering Maine’s notorious penitentiary: Shawshank. One of these men is mild-mannered banker Andy Dufresene who, despite protesting his innocence, has been found guilty of the brutal murders of his wife and her lover. As a result he has been ordered to serve two life sentences at Shawshank.
Despite the habitual violence, Andy manages to befriend Red, an older man also in prison for murder. Red is a prison ‘fixer’ – acquiring, at a cost, cigarettes, booze and chocolates for the inmates. Andy’s requests are unusual: he wants a rock hammer (claiming an interest in geology) and a poster of Rita Hayworth for his cell.
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The Shawshank Redemption is adapted by Owen O’Neill and Dave Johns from the Stephen King novella ‘Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption’. Made into a film in 1994, starring Tim Robbins as Andy and Morgan Freeman as Red, I think it’s no exaggeration to say it’s one of the most beloved movies ever made. Which perhaps, unfairly, explains why I can’t help but think that Joe McFadden (Holby City star and winner of 2017’s Strictly Come Dancing) has been somewhat miscast as the lead character.
Andy Dufresne is a bright light of intelligence and integrity at Shawshank. Stoic, hopeful, he has an almost mythological presence. Robbins nailed it but McFadden’s Andy is too slight a presence on stage, too affable and pedestrian. I wanted director David Esbjornson to have asked for more boldness and otherliness.
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Fortunately, Ben Onwukwe as Red, is perfectly cast as the wise old-timer who is repeatedly rejected for parole. I couldn’t keep my eyes off him as, in a beautiful soothing voice, he revealed Red’s vulnerability and astute savviness; his world-weary take on prison life; his astonishment at Andy’s ability to endure.
The wider cast is also fantastic – particularly Kenneth Jay who plays Brooksie, another long-serving inmate, who runs the library and is frightened of what life on the outside might hold; and on the night I saw it, Owen Oldroyd as the ice-cold warden, Stammas (the character will be played by Bill Ward from the Feb 20) who takes advantage of Andy’s financial skills to line his own pockets. Sean Kingsley and Ashley D Gayle as Bogs Diamond and Rooster (The Sisters) inject some proper menace into proceedings.
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Special mentions too, for designer Gary McCann and lighting designer, Chris Davey who together have created a wonderfully gloomy Shawshank with its scuffed walls, drab colours, filthy windows and the always dimmed lights. The only bright notes, fittingly, are the music tracks that are played between scene changes – going from 40s favourites The Ink Spots to Bob Dylan – reminding us just how long these characters have been inside.
Shawshank Redemption is playing The Theatre Royal Windsor until 21st February.
Tickets: theatreroyalwindsor.co.uk
Suitable for ages 14+
