Shawshank Redemption At The Regent Theatre, Stoke On Trent Review

Reviewed by Liz

The 1994 feature film The Shawshank Redemption was destined to be a failure with many factors pushing against its success including but not limited to its entirely unappealing name. However, the film became a huge success and needless to say the theatre show of its namesake was nothing short of spectacular.

The Shawshank Redemption is a story of Andy Dufresne ( Joe Absolom) who is wrongfully convicted of a double murder, he is shipped off to “the shank” for 2 life sentences, both of which he has no intention of serving. His time spent in prison began lonely and friendless, he is regularly targeted by “ the sisters ” and his life, you would think, was a misery. His resilience and perseverance knows no bounds and he becomes friendly with Red (Ben Onwukwe) who is man who knows how to get things. This unlikely friendship blossoms and eventually becomes lifelong.

Absolom does an outstanding job of portraying the meek and mild Dufresne. His mannerisms and likeness to Tim Robbins are uncanny, however, this is not without its challenges of potentially parroting the original character. There is a fine line between mimicking and creating a character as your own, one that reflects aspects of yourself and Absolom does this spectacularly.

Onwukwe easily fits the role of red and again is not incomparable to the original character, and shoes like morgan Freemans are massive shoes to fill, but Onwukwe does this without hesitation and again does an outstanding job of it. Red as a character is witty, intelligent, sarcastic and generally quite funny and Onwukwe pulls it off in a unique way.

The first half of the show was a little slow going, had I have not been familiar with the film and the book, I probably would have been entirely lost as to what was happening and who was who. Luckily though I was familiar with them which made it easier to follow. The first half didn’t invoke an awful lot of emotion from me and I felt a little ambivalent about it. The set was good and interchangeable which I liked and the costumes as you can imagine were limited due to the nature of the show. It’s important to note that this is not a musical and is a play. The music choices were good and did add a much needed atmosphere.

The second half of the show was on an entirely different level to the first half. I was twice brought to tears. It stirred something within me, I felt an overwhelming sense of sadness and anger, the injustice and betrayal displayed by the warden played excellently by Mark Heenehan enraged me and I was entirely invested in each of the characters and their journey. I desperately wanted Tommy (Coulter Dittman) to succeed and I desperately wanted someone to save Brooksie (Kenneth Jay) both of which were exquisitely represented.

There are references to sexual violence as there is in the film and the book, these are executed respectfully and without display of obvious deeds, however, could be a trigger and was a little uncomfortable to watch. Please bear this in mind when booking tickets. There is very strong language, whilst the guidance states the play is suitable for children 12+ I believe the play is entirely inappropriate for children of any age up to 15.

The theatre itself was well maintained and the décor was magnificent. The stage and seats have a lovely layout. The toilets are clean and there are plenty to ensure the cues are not too long during intervals. There is a seat ordering service which I took full advantage of, the items I bought were a little expensive and can’t honestly say I would purchase anything from there with the prices being as high as £3.45 for a 500ml bottle of pepsi, so much so, I usually make my judgment on the ice cream but on this occasion decided against purchasing any.

Parking was a little tricky but I eventually found some that was a pay and display car park just up the road from the theatre, there are a number of NCP carparks near by that a short walk form the theatre itself.

Rating: 5/5

Tickets cost from £13.00 plus booking fee of up to £3.80
And are available from https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/the-shawshank-redemption/regent-theatre/ or by calling 020 7206 1174

The Shawshank Redemption is on from 20th February to 25th February at
The Regent Theatre
Piccadilly
Hanley
Stoke-on-Trent
ST1 1AP