Review: THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, Theatre Royal, Glasgow, 21 November 2016
Andy Dufresne is wrongly convicted of the murder of his wife and her lover, and ordered to serve two life sentences in the Shawshank penitentiary. Quickly befriending Ellis "Red" Redding, he starts to adjust to life on the inside. A banker by trade, Dufresne find himself protected by the prison staff as he takes care of their taxes. While there are some unsettling moments, The Shawshank Redemption focuses on the relationships between the prisoners and how even in the bleakest of situations they don't lose hope.
Jack Ellis, perhaps best known for playing Jim Fenner in ITV's Bad Girls, reprises his role as a despicable prison warden effortlessly. It is hard not to draw comparisons between smooth-voiced Ben Onwukwe and his movie counterpart Morgan Freeman, but he is perfectly suited to the role of Red. Tween Nineties heartthrob Paul Nicholls is fantastic in the lead as Dufresne and the accents from the entire cast were bang on, which was excellent as ropey ones can really detract from a script.
The set is fairly bleak as the play is almost entirely set within the prison walls. Lighting is used to great effect in this production, particularly during the more brutal scenes between prisoners where the lights drop so little violence is actually seen.
Beautifully adapted for the stage, this production follows the 1982 novella rather than the 1994 movie which regularly tops the "Greatest Films of All Time" lists. The script is strong and the story is uplifting and genuinely touching.
The Shawshank Redemption runs at the Theatre Royal until Saturday 26 November.
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