THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION To 29 November.
London.
THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION
by Owen O’Neill and Dave Johns based on the novella by Stephen King.
Wyndhams Theatre To 29 November 2009.
Tue-Thu; Sat 7.30pm Fri 5.30pm & 8.30pm Sun 4pm Mat Sat 3pm.
Runs 2hr 15min One interval.
TICKETS: 0844 482 5125 (£1.75 booking fee per ticket).
Review: Timothy Ramsden 15 September.
If you want to see it, go and see it.
There are reasons to see a stage version of a story famous on film. Comparisons with the DVD – can anyone match up to Tim Robbins as wrongly-imprisoned murder rap inmate Andy Dufresne or Morgan Freeman’s prison-fixer Red? Or to be able to speak about it when conversations turn to Frank Darabont’s 1994 film. (A poor reason to promote a show? It’s how Kenneth Tynan sold Waiting for Godot).
If none of these make a compelling reason for this piece, that’s because it remains something yanked into the theatre from another medium. The heart sinks as the curtain rises to reveal long-term prisoner Red as a direct-to-audience narrator. Yet in time the virtues of Owen O'Neill and Dave Johns’ adaptation kick-in, with a free-flow between scenes of increasing tension and relaxation.
A fair part of the first act is an investment, building characters like Geoffrey Hutchings’ old librarian, who can’t face anonymity outside, and the young car-thief whom Andy helps gain qualifications to begin a new life, and keep his wife.
Peter Sheridan’s production of the O’Neill/Johns script reveals the action as a struggle between light and dark similar in manner, if not matter, to the one between Randle McMurphy and Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Here it’s not order versus freedom, but hope against the despair of a corruptly-run jail. Andy may help warders and Mitchell Mullen’s gang-boss governor in order to survive in jail, but he does so by constructing things – including dodgy accounts – rather than responding to opposition with violence and destruction.
Kevin Anderson’s quietly stoic Andy defends himself against the sexual violence of Joe Hanley’s Neanderthal-looking Bogs and his gang, because he holds onto hope for the future. That’s what he gives young Thomas, and Governor Stammas knows a hit there will hurt Andy.
The two-storey bars of Ferdia Muphy’s prison set give way only at the end when, having learned how the truth can set him free on parole, Reg E Cathey’s Red walks to bright sunshine, his body celebrating by expanding from straight-backed caution. It’s the production’s own expression of hope.
Andy: Kevin Anderson.
Red: Reg E Cathey.
Brooksie: Geoffrey Hutchings.
Stammas: Mitchell Mullen.
Hadley: Shane Attwooll.
Entwistle: Peter Vollebregt.
Mayor: Nick Sampson.
Stone: Sean Baker.
Bogs: Joe Hanley.
Rooster: Nicholas Aaron.
Pete: Barry Aird.
Chester: Geff Francis.
Ernie: Lee Oakes.
Heywood: Ryan McCluskey.
Tommy: Diarmuid Noyes.
Rico: Nathan Clough.
Buddy: Ronan Raftery.
Guard: Simon Naylor.
Prisoner: Gary Trainor.
Director: Peter Sheridan.
Designer: Ferdia Murphy.
Lighting: Kevin Treacy.
Sound/Composer: Denis Clohessy.
Assistant director: Beth Eden.
2009-09-21 11:53:22