Use the form below to search for tickets on your desired date. Dates from
Synopsis Andy Dufresne is convicted of murdering his wife and her lover and sent to the notorious Shawshank Prison to serve two life sentences. Stripped of his life, family and freedom, Andy is forced to endure a spirit-crushing routine. But with his quiet strength and inner courage there is one thing that Andy never loses - and that is hope.
Reg E Cathey & Kevin Anderson in The Shawshank Redemption
Date: 15 September 2009
The new stage adaptation of The Shawshank Redemption received its West End premiere on Sunday (13 September 2009, previews from 4 September) at Wyndham's Theatre. The play, based on Stephen King’s 1982 novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption which also inspired the 1994 Hollywood film starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, had its world premiere in May at Dublin’s Gaiety Theatre, and is now booking in London through to 14 February 2010.
American actors Kevin Anderson and Reg E Cathey lead the 20-strong cast as Andy Dufresne and Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding, two prison inmates who develop a life-long friendship after the former, a banker, is wrongly incarcerated for the murder of his wife. Cathey, who makes his London stage debut in the production, is a familiar face to TV fans from The Wire.
Paul Taylor in the Independent captured much of the critical consensus, noting that there’s no doubt “a large potential market for a stage version” but still questioning: “is there any artistic justification?” The answer, according to most, was, not really. Some felt that the stage production lacks a “sense of passing time” as it tries but fails to find “the right recurring rhythms”. Notably, Whatsonstage.com’s own Michael Coveney disagreed, who declared that “this clever stage adaptation” is as powerful as any prison drama since “Kenneth Brown’s The Brig in the mid-1960s”. There was more agreement with regard to the two “brilliant” lead actors, particularly Reg E Cathey.
Michael Coveney on Whatsonstage.com (four stars) – “The implicit irony of a prison play is that it celebrates the liberation of the human spirit, and this clever stage adaptation of Stephen King’s brilliant novella – the rights to the movie were unavailable – is as powerful as any such drama since Kenneth Brown’s The Brig in the mid-1960s … Both (actors) are terrific. And both embody lookalike aspects of Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman in the movie – Red is in fact a white Irishman in the novella – but Anderson is less goofy and thoroughly, quietly convinced of his destiny, while Cathey comes home to roost in the audience’s affection with his own brand of twinkling humour and gravelly vocal delivery. The clanking prison cell designed by Ferdia Murphy on two levels contains a well-disciplined bunch of shirt-lifting hoodlums ... Peter Sheridan’s production is a well-oiled machine with plenty of room for characters to manoeuvre, and the plot developments ... are models of compressed and deeply affecting stage narrative. And the ending is simply glorious, even if the programme cover gives it away before you take your seat.”
Michael Billington in the Guardian (two stars) - “You read the book. You saw the movie. Now you can experience the play. Except I see no compelling reason, apart from the lead performances, why you should. For the main effect of this stage version by Owen O'Neill and Dave Johns, as proved by the chorus of boos that greeted the bad guys at the curtain call, is to turn the Stephen King novella into prison melodrama … What you have in Peter Sheridan's production is a straightforward tale of heroes and villains. I missed any sense of passing time: here, prison seems to offer a protection against the ravages of age. The main pleasure lies in the central performances. Kevin Anderson's Andy has just the right air of purposeful self-containment, as if any expression of emotion would be a sign of weakness. Reg E Cathey conveys Red's growing trust in, and affection for, his grimly determined colleague. And Geoffrey Hutchings neatly captures the institutionalised solitude of Brooksie. But, lacking the movie's excursions into the outside world and any sense of moral equivocation, the play, in the end, is The Shawshank Reduction.”
Charles Spencer in theDaily Telegraph (three stars) – “I would suggest that your cash might be better spent elsewhere … The blandly predictable design consists of little more than prison bars, and the tension and constantly simmering violence of the movie are in short supply. One can’t help but feel sympathy for Kevin Anderson, as Andy, and Reg E Cathey, as the prison’s fixer and philosopher, Red, who have the daunting task of following Robbins and Freeman at the top of their game. Both bear a passing resemblance to the more famous actors who preceded them, and both make a respectable fist of their task, but Anderson lacks the intense inwardness and enigmatic quality of Robbins, while Cathey, although engaging, lacks much of the charm, poetry and authority of Freeman’s narrator. There are a few points in favour of watching The Shawshank Redemption in a theatre, above all the warm feeling of community as an audience roots for the live actors on stage, that neither celluloid nor DVD can match. There’s also evocative use of folksy banjo music in Peter Sheridan’s efficient production ... I also liked the mischievous touch of casting an actor who bears a strong resemblance to the theatre’s owner, Cameron Mackintosh, as the monstrously hypocritical, deeply corrupt Bible-basher of a prison governor. I just hope Cameron sees the funny side, too.”
Paul Taylor in the Independent– “There's certainly a large potential market for a stage version, but is there any artistic justification? Not really ... The writers, Owen O'Neill and Dave Johns, have argued that theatre is a medium that uses metaphor better than film. Their handling of this resource is shaky and limited … This results in disappointingly flimsy symbolism that's designed to cover for the fact that you can't show a man crawling down miles of sewage pipe on stage. Removing the flashback scenes and confining the action within bars is doubtless meant to reinforce the (tendentious) sense that prison is an emblem of the human condition. But the gravity of this notion is undermined by Ferdia Murphy's set which looks like a giant budgie cage. Crucially lacking is any palpable feel of the slow passage of time ... But Peter Sheridan's production never finds the right recurring rhythms with which to convey this. Populated by unageing, ever-energetic cons, the entire feat of endurance seems to last for 12 months, tops … In the role of Red, the excellent Reg E Cathey (of Wire fame) has Morgan Freeman's twinkle and rumbling, gravelly strength ... He holds the evening together with his moving, unforced dignity.”
Benedict Nightingale in The Times (three stars) – “(The film) has become one of the cinema’s great sleepers, in some polls the most popular movie ever: which explains, yet doesn’t fully justify, the presence of Owen O'Neill and Dave Johns’ parallel adaptation of King in the West End … Ferdia Murphy’s set consists of stacks of steel bars, which adds to the claustrophobia and menace but means that little can be made of the closing scenes that occur outside. There’s a sadistic warder on show and a corrupt warden. Yet the feelgood element is never far away. Shawshank is far from a Scout camp, but male bonding is rife, along with uplifting sentiments about the importance of hope and dreams. Still, why not, since these involve not only a big, mild Anderson but the superb Cathey? His laidback growl and affable stoicism combine with a sly sense of mischief to make you believe that he knows how to play a system that, sadly, he’s unlikely to escape. And does he escape? Well, see this - or get the film on DVD.”
Henry Hitchings in the Evening Standard – “Owen O'Neill and Dave Johns have based their stage version ... not on Frank Darabont’s film but on the Stephen King novella ... Yet inescapably it is the popularity of the film that has triggered this adaptation and comparison feels apt ... What defines the film is the central relationship ... While Anderson and Cathey give robust performances, their chemistry lacks real spark. Anderson’s manner is often facetious instead of ingenious and Cathey’s gravity gruff rather than wise ... Peter Sheridan’s direction is neat, maintaining a good sense of pace but the emotional register seems narrow ... Although its heart-tugging ending assures a gale of applause, The Shawshank Redemption is decent entertainment, not a masterpiece.”
The implicit irony of a prison play is that it celebrates the liberation of the human spirit, and this clever stage adaptation of Stephen King’s brilliant novella – the rights to the movie were unavailable – is as powerful as any such drama since Kenneth Brown’s The Brig in the mid-1960s.
The Brig was set in a Marines detention centre and charted the gradual destruction of the individual in an Artaudian cacophony of sound and physical movement (it was the breakthrough show for the Living Theatre).
The Shawshank Redemption, more sentimental and optimistic, shows the survival instinct working the system in a desensitised environment that is still not immune to the possibility of change. This is why the play works so well; every performance since the opening at the Gaiety in Dublin has received a spontaneous standing ovation.
The project is a continuation of the “comedians do theatre” initiative that has so far embraced Twelve Angry Men and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, only this time the comedians are merely the writers, Owen O'Neill and Dave Johns. The leading roles of the unjustly imprisoned banker Andy Dufresne and the story’s mediator Red, the gnarled old lifer and “the guy who gets things”, are taken by Kevin Anderson of Steppenwolf in Chicago and Sunset Boulevard in the West End, and Reg E Cathey of The Wire.
Both are terrific. And both embody lookalike aspects of Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman in the movie – Red is in fact a white Irishman in the novella – but Anderson is less goofy and thoroughly, quietly convinced of his destiny, while Cathey comes home to roost in the audience’s affection with his own brand of twinkling humour and gravelly vocal delivery.
The clanking prison cell designed by Ferdia Murphy on two levels contains a well-disciplined bunch of shirt-lifting hoodlums led by Joe Hanley’s ferocious Bogs, and Geoffrey Hutchings potters endearingly about as Brooksie, the bent-double librarian who can’t face the outside world. Mitchell Mullen and Shane Attwoll are suitably heavy as the authority figures.
Peter Sheridan’s production is a well-oiled machine with plenty of room for characters to manoeuvre, and the plot developments – the news of Andy’s supposed crime is artfully conveyed by Diarmuid Noyes’ new boy; the transition of Andy from sullen inmate to active financial adviser in the great “pitching the roof” scene – are models of compressed and deeply affecting stage narrative. And the ending is simply glorious, even if the programme cover gives it away before you take your seat.
I came to see the The Shawshank Redemption late, long after it first came out as a film, on a flight to Canada. I was immediately drawn into the story and was later bemused to find out that it never took off as a film, only after it went out in DVD. It seems originally the title confused many American's. The stage adaptation is a miracle, capturing the spirit and essence of the story to perfection and, often hard to do on stage, being very moving and in the final moments hugely uplifting. I can see why people cheer and stand at the end, unfortunately not last Saturday night. I cannot imagine it not crossing the pond where the audiences will be up on their feet cheering and during the performance too not just at the end! A classic example of why we keep on going back to the theatre. Terrific! - houndtang
22 Nov 09
Screen to stage transfers are two a penny these days and most are run of the mill at best. The Shawshank Redemption is one of the most popular films of all time (although it tanked on first release) so surely a stage adaptation would pale in comparison. In fact it works extremely well - the claustrophobia of a prison works well on stage, the story is so compelling that you are immediately caught up in the lives of these great characters and there are two excellent central performances from Kevin Anderson and Reg Cathey (it helps that they strongly resemble their screen counterparts). There are some faults; the characters don't age and it's still not explained how the poster is replaced, but this is an excellent piece of theatre in its' own right and it's no surprise that some members of the audience rose to cheer as Red strode into an emotional sunset. - David Baxter
25 Sep 09
Banged up in a US prison two inmates from opposite sides of the tracks forge an unlikely friendship against a background of corrupt wardens, wisecracking murderers and a hanging. The stage version of 'Shawshank Redemption' is ‘Chicago’ for straight men. +++
Whilst not actually channelling Renee Zellweger and Catherine Z. Jones, leads Kevin Anderson and ‘The Wire’ star Reg E. Cathey draw parallels as Anderson’s innocent-behind-bars learns quickly who not to trust and how to manipulate the corrupt system, while Cathey’s persistent recidivist tries to distance himself from the morality but eventually succumbs. +++
Like most current screen-to-stage adaptations (Sister Act, Breakfast at Tiffany’s) legal ownership of the movie rights prevented a direct adaptation from the filmscript and the source material reverts to a less sparkling original novel or treatment. +++
The dialogue’s too fluent for movie realism but works well enough on stage where the supporting cast turn in sharp performances, notably Ryan McCluskey’s engaging performance as the cheerful gambler Heywood. McCluskey is billed as first cover for Anderson’s lead role and it would be interesting to see him play it. +++
Equally outstanding is the least sympathetic character, the violent sodomite Bogs played with utter conviction by Joe Hanley whose priapic readiness to exact the ultimate rite of passage on new inmates gives new meaning to the phrase ‘hardened criminal’. +++
Ferdia Murphy’s two-tier set of prison bars is simple to the point of emptiness, and bizarre when placed in the blue white and gold cherub-studded proscenium of Wyndham’s Theatre. Lighting Designer Kevin Treacy could have worked harder to reduce the spill on to the auditorium and focus more harshly on the prison. +++
An interesting echo on the sound system actively suggests the hard surfaces, but otherwise there's little to indicate place, the passing of time or seasons, or to convince us that this is a real penitentiary. +++
There’s plenty of shouting and banging, and a lot of booted stomping in the fight scenes but ultimately this Shawshank – as Roxie says - it’s just a noisy hall where there’s a nightly brawl, and All That Jazz. +++ more reviews at www.blowstar.blogspot.com - JohnnyFox
17 Sep 09
I have not seen the film, so cannot be influenced as to comparisons. However, I believe the Play is based more on the original story and not a duplicate of the film? The two main performers were very good, but there was little tension or drama in the first half. I was not quite sure what the Warden was doing. His performance was like a blank white sheet throughout? With time the overall play and the many individual scenes will become "crisper" and will then add to the clarity of what it is all about. Promising start but needs work to become something special. - John Trott
14 Sep 09
Saw on Friday and was blown away by the raw emotion on stage. I've never been 100% convinced of the film's position in the numerous greatest film lists but as a stage production it has the power to move.
The effective set and wonderful evocative lighting adds to the sheer power of the piece - Tim
14 Sep 09
An entertaining adaptation which is different enough to be worth watching even if you've seen the film a few times. Good performances although the relationship between Red and Andy doesn't seem as close as in the film - houndtang
Whatsonstage.com - Discount London theatre tickets, theatre news and reviews, Theatre videos, Theatre discussion, National Theatre Listings. Covering London's West End, all of Theatreland and all UK theatre. The best
for London Theatre Ticket Discounts.
