The Shawshank Redemption At The Lowry, Salford Review

Reviewed by Cath Joyce

Based on a short story by Stephen King, The Shawshank Redemption was made into a hit film back in 1994 and starred Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins. Adapted for the stage, by Owen O’Neill and Dave Johns and directed by David Esbjornson, the play tells the story of an innocent man, Andy Dufresne (played by Joe Absolom) who is given two life sentences for the murder of his wife and her lover and sent to the Shawshank State Penitentiary. There he meets and befriends fellow inmate and prison “fixer” Ellis “Red” Redding (Ben Onwukwe) who helps him adjust to the brutality and hardships of prison life. Cruel and dishonest warden Stammas (played by Mark Heenehan) quickly realises Andy’s value, forcing him to use his accountancy skills to help him launder prison money. This is a violent story which includes a gang rape and murder but whilst alluded to on stage it is very much played down in this production.

Ben Onwukwe was outstanding as Red, he is such a complex character – triple murderer and black marketeer as well as Andy’s friend – and we felt Ben was very convincing in the role. Acting as narrator he helps pull the story together and keeps it moving over the 20 year time span.

Another favourite character of ours is “Brooksie” the prison librarian played by Kenneth Jay. Although not a major character in the story he was believable as the oldest inmate with even the most hardened of the prisoners saddened by his failure to adjust to life outside and his death.

The play is set over a period of almost 20 years and whilst the actors don’t age, music of the day helps give the impression of the passage of time, here was one small irritation, when the music played it was accompanied by slight distortion – we’re not sure if that was deliberate or not but if so, didn’t work for us.

The Lowry has a large stage and the set was very impressive, the prison walls were shabby and lighting was used effectively to highlight the claustrophobic feel of the prison. The set changes were slick and you really felt drawn into the story.

As a fan of the film, I wasn’t sure how it would translate to the stage. Would the plot be over-simplified? How would the ending be portrayed? Obviously it’s not possible to include everything from the film and if I’m being picky, perhaps the warden’s comeuppance and the final scene was glossed over a little too quickly, but my husband, who has never seen the film, really enjoyed the story and didn’t need an explanation as to what was going on. Overall I felt the story had been adapted skilfully and lost none of its impact.

The Shawshank Redemption is playing at The Lowry, until Saturday 5th November and I would recommend this play both to those familiar with the film and those new to the story. We really enjoyed our night out, as did many of the audience with a standing ovation at the end of the play.

Rating: 4/5

Tickets cost from £16.00 (plus £3.00 transaction fee).
For more information or to book tickets click here or call the box office on 0343 208 6000