The Shawshank Redemption – The Alexandra, Birmingham

Writer: Stephen King

Adaptors: Owen O’Neill and Dave Johns

Director: David Esbjornson

The law says that banker Andy Dufresne shot his wife and her lover. And the evidence does appear to be overwhelming and so he finds himself serving two consecutive life sentences at Shawshank Penitentiary. Shawshank is a pretty grim place with corrupt and uncaring staff from the warden down and the ‘sisters’ who rule the roost through a combination of casual violence and rape. But Andy never wavers from his unlikely story that he is entirely innocent.

Andy is befriended by fellow inmate and fixer Red. Quietly spoken and intelligent, Andy manages to navigate the early part of his sentence, and when he offers to use his banking expertise to help a guard protect a legacy from tax he becomes invaluable to the staff as he dispenses advice, not all of it strictly legal. Then a lifeline: a young car thief, Tommy Williams, reveals that a previous cellmate of his gleefully admitted to the murders of which Andy is accused. It seems as if Andy finally has a ticket home; except that he is too valuable and knows too much. Tommy is found dead in his cell. With his hopes of freedom dashed, how can Andy carry on?

The Shawshank Redemption takes place over a twenty-year period. Its structure is cinematic, with short scenes illustrating the key incidents in Andy’s incarceration. Red acts as occasional narrator linking scenes and filling gaps. Background music genres and incidental dialogue help us keep track of passing time. But all the time, Gary McCann’s brutal set depicting the prison wing remains unchanging, albeit with occasional pieces of furniture or backdrops slickly introduced to take us to Andy’s cell or the warden’s office. Harsh monochromatic lighting from Chris Davey serves to accentuate the isolation prisoners feel, lighting our protagonists in unforgiving white light and creating pools of darkness around them.

The script by Owen O’Neill and Dave Johns is lean and efficient, even if some scenes feel a little too short. We are in no doubt of the brutality of the inmates’ experience and even though most are happy to take responsibility for their heinous crimes, we come to know them and even empathise with their predicament. When elderly librarian Brooksie (masterfully played by Kenneth Jay) fears parole having become institutionalised after decades inside, we truly understand his trepidation and feel for him. And we are heartened when the young Tommy (a superb performance from Coulter Dittman in his professional debut) seems to be making progress and set to make a new life. While Warden Stammas and Officer Hadley (Mark Heenehan and Joe Reisig respectively) may be sketched in with broader strokes, they never veer into parody and remain entirely believable in their corrupt rule of their fiefdom.

But at the centre of this ensemble piece are Joe Absolom’s Andy and Ben Onwukwe’s Red. Both give masterclasses in acting as time passes and their friendship develops. Absolom’s performance is all the more powerful for its understatedness which hits the bullseye in terms of Dufresne’s character. Dufresne is not showy nor does he rely on muscle to get his way preferring guile, and we applaud him for sticking to his guns throughout. Onwukwe’s Red travels a different road. He’s found his niche as the guy-who-gets-things which offers a modicum of protection. But we also see the tortured man underneath that façade and join him on the journey with Andy that he barely knows he needs to make. Two masterful performances.

The Shawshank Redemption is the real deal: raw, powerful and sometimes painful, it is, nevertheless, life-affirming and uplifting. A must-see.

Runs Until 12 November 2022