Cast Set For SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION at Darlington Hippodrome

Full casting has been announced for the new UK tour of The Shawshank Redemption coming to Darlington Hippodrome in September.

Adapted by Owen O’Neill and Dave Johns and starring Joe McFadden in the role of the wrongly convicted Andy Dufresne, Ben Onwukwe as inmate Ellis “Red” Redding and Bill Ward as the corrupt prison warden Stammas, this thrilling staging examines desperation, injustice, friendship and hope behind the claustrophobic bars of a maximum-security facility. 

Despite protests of his innocence, Andy Dufresne is handed a double life sentence for the brutal murder of his wife and her lover. Incarcerated at the notorious Shawshank facility, he quickly learns that no one can survive alone. 

Andy strikes up an unlikely friendship with the prison fixer Red, and things take a slight turn for the better. However, when Warden Stammas decides to bully Andy into subservience and exploit his talents for accountancy, a desperate plan is quietly hatched… 

The 1994 feature film of The Shawshank Redemption, starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, was nominated for seven Academy Awards. It went on to become the one of the nation’s favourite movies and a huge source of inspiration to film makers, with The National Film Registry citing the film as "culturally, historically, aesthetically significant". 

Joe McFadden’s television credits include Sex, Chips & Rock’n’Roll, PC Joe Mason in Heartbeat and Raf in Holby City. He competed in the 2017 season of Strictly Come Dancing winning the Glitterball Trophy with professional partner Katya Jones. On stage, recent credits include 2:22 at the Gielgud Theatre and UK tours of The Rocky Horror Show and Agatha Christie’s The Mirror Crack’d.

Boasting a 30-year stage career, Ben Onwukwe has seen leading roles with the RSC and the Royal Court, as well as 11 years on TV as Recall McKenzie in London’s Burning and, more recently, the role of Jackson Donckers in Professor T. He reprises his critically acclaimed performance as Ellis “Red” Redding in The Shawshank Redemption, which he first played in the production’s 2016 tour.  

Bill Ward is best known for his long-running performances as Charlie Stubbs in Coronation Street and James Barton in Emmerdale. Theatre credits include Everyone’s Talking About Jamie, Million Dollar Quartet and Spamalot in the West End. Most recently he bared all as Gerald in the UK tour of The Full Monty.