No Oscar Wins But Still A Classic – The Shawshank Redemption

It holds you from the beginning to the end and even though most people know what’s coming, The Shawshank Redemption still pulls on the heart strings, striking a blow for anyone who has suffered an injustice, with all the power of a heavyweight boxer.

The movie was nominated for seven Oscars, won none and was pipped at the post by Tom Hanks and Forrest Gump but, since 1994, it has grown in stature and taken on the mantle of ‘cult movie’.

Joe Absolom and Ben Onwukwe, had big shoes to fill as they stepped from the shadows of movie heroes, Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, to take on the roles of Andy Dufresne and Ellis ‘Red’ Redding, for the stage version of Stephen King’s novella, originally entitled ‘Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption.

But fill them they did.

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.

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

The entire production was so beautifully cast and a triumph for both Onwukwe and Absolom in the two main roles: they bounced off each other brilliantly with seamless, free-flowing dialogue that made for convincing characterisations.

At first I was unsure about Mark Heenehan’s corrupt bible quoting Warden Stammas but, with each passing scene, I hated him more, proving how well Heenehan’s character came to the fore: slowly but so effectively.

There was the manic laughter of crazy prison rapist Rooster (Leigh Jones), the brutality of prison guard Hadley (Joe Reisig) and you felt nothing but sorrow and empathy for Kenneth Jay as ‘Brooksie’, paroled back into society after 42 years inside:institutionalised and unable to cope, he commits suicide.

The staging was suitably barren, however, lighting designer, Chris Davey, somehow managed to take 25 minutes of the film and place it into one single lighting plot: Dufresne’s escape.

Absolom was bathed in a spotlight of yellow light with arms outstretched. Free after years of incarceration.

Perfect, as was the closing moment when Red and Dufresne are re-united. The lighting was brilliant, creating an overwhelming emotional pull on the heart strings.

Tears flowed in the darkness of the Alhambra; the audience silence was palpable. There was no dialogue. Not a sound in the house.

In some way the play was art imitating art.

When Joe Absolom was in the BBC soap opera EastEnders playing the part of Matthew Rose, his character was framed for the murder of Saskia Duncan.

The real culprit was Steve Owen but Rose eventually got his revenge. Maybe Absolom was able to dig deep from his soap days for inspiration because he did give an inspired performance.

This was an understated but brilliant production that concertinaed the film, using clever stage techniques to imply the passing of time or to convey ‘assumed’ action. However, nothing was lost.

Adapted by Owen O’Neill and Dave Johns, you will be on the edge of your seat from the outset.