The Shawshank Redemption - A Prisoner Of Its Own Brilliance?

For anyone who has felt the pain of workplace victimisation or injustice, The Shawshank Redemption must surely be the ultimate feel good movie?

For even though it frequently touches upon the horrible - the brutality of gang rape, corruption and unfettered incarceration - it is also a film in which good triumphs over evil and the bad get their comeuppance.

Inspired by the Stephen King novella, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, it was also the film in which many people first encountered Morgan Freeman as the seasoned lag, Ellis 'Red' Redding, and Tim Robbins as former high flying banker, Andy Dufresne, wrongfully imprisoned for a murder he did not commit.

So, it was with some anticipation and excitement that I awaited last night's stage version at the Leeds Grand Theatre, having already seen the movie probably half a dozen times.

And it was different, with far more left to the imagination than in the expansive, multi-location movie. In some ways stage productions have the advantage of intimacy and, for the audience, there is the feeling of witnessing something in real time; you share Andy Dufresne's pain and cringe as corrupt governor Warden Stammas, makes it clear that his charge will never be released....he does far too good a job of cooking the warden's books!



But, having been spoiled by the movie - it got seven Oscar nominations - I felt a couple of elements of the plot were squandered in Owen O'Neill and Dave Johns' stage adaptation, which tells the story of Dufresne's ultimate escape and the downfall of the entire system.

In the film the highlight is when the rotten bureaucracy is exposed - Dufresne escapes Shawshank Penitentiary, the governor is exposed for the evil individual he is, commits suicide and the two main protagonists are reunited on a beach in Mexico.

But last night, and I accept that the stage has limits, I didn't want to 'imagine' the governor's downfall, I wanted to see him squirm but, instead, his entire 'fall from grace' was virtually dismissed in a few lines, leaving the production with a hole far bigger than the one used by Dufresne to escape his cell.

And that, perhaps, is why the stage version is destined to become a prisoner to the 1994 film, in which some of Hollywood's top writers added, no doubt, a few 'adornments' to give the movie greater box office appeal.

But, I still love The Shawshank Redemption and my comments are there because I too have probably become a prisoner of the 90's movie, tainted by its wonderful acting and vast canvass!


This is a production that's worth a look, even more so if you have never seen the film. I loved Ian Kelsey as Andy Dufresne and, sorry Ian, I could only see Tim Robbins, but that ain't entirely a bad thing - people go to Singin' in the Rain to see Gene Kelly, not Fred Smith from Pontefract Amateurs!

At first, Patrick Robinson as 'Red' almost had a Richard Pryor type feel but, as I settled into his interpretation, he became more believable.

But, for me Owen O'Neill as Warden Stammas - he was also the co-writer - needed to be more menacing. Menacing is not always about shouting, it is the very opposite, which is why Bob Gunton was so brilliant in the film, and I wanted to see a more controlled performance; his appearance on stage did not creep me out enough!

But, overall?

These so-called 'production notes' are my views! The Shawshank Redemption is a brilliant movie based on a brilliant book by a brilliant writer. Loathe it, you should not, love it you might, but ignore it you can't.

See the film, watch the play and savour the book. Taken together Shawshank is a place you will want to visit - but only for a couple of hours!

The Shawshank Redemption
Leeds Grand
7.30pm

Until Saturday Sept 5th