'The Shawshank Redemption' is a 1994 American drama film
written and directed by Frank Darabont, based on the 1982 Stephen King novella, 'Rita Hayworth And Shawshank Redemption'. The film tells the story of banker Andy
Dufresne (Tim Robbins), who is sentenced to life in Shawshank State
Penitentiary for the murders of his wife and her lover, despite his claims of
innocence. Over the following two decades, he befriends a fellow prisoner,
contraband smuggler Ellis "Red" Redding (Morgan Freeman), and becomes
instrumental in a money-laundering operation led by the prison warden Samuel
Norton (Bob Gunton). Life in Shawshank is brutal, the guards have no respect
for the prisoners and beatings by the guards and extended periods of exclusion
to solitary confinement only magnify the feelings of helplessness and despair
the inmates feel.
Famously the rights were sold by King for only $5,000 to
Darabont, who set about writing the script some 5 years later over an 8 week
period. King failed to see the potential of the novella, Darabont said it was
obvious and set about securing funding for the film. 'The Shawshank Redemption' received critical acclaim on its release, particularly for its story and the
performances of Tim Robbins (Andy) and
Morgan Freeman (Red), but it was a box-office disappointment, earning only $16
million during its initial theatrical run. Many reasons were cited for its
failure at the time, including competition from films such as 'Pulp Fiction' and 'Forrest Gump'. It was however nominated for multiple award nominations,
including seven Academy Award nominations, and a theatrical re-release that,
combined with international takings, increased the film's box-office gross to
$73.3 million. This is a new stage script written by Owen O’Neill and Dave
Johns.
So back to those feelings of trepidation. On entering the
theatre there was a real buzz of expectation like the audience were here to see
an old friend, and when the curtain was raised all our fears we allayed. The set was
magnificent and allowed seamless transition from scene to scene. The passage of
time was simply but effectively shown through the music and songs of the
decades.
The play opens with Ellis Red Redding (Ben Onwukwe)
welcoming us to Shawshank, in seconds he owns the stage and our hearts, and he holds us
for the whole production. Simply put, Onwukwe’s performance as Red is stellar,
initially a little harsher than Freeman's version in the film, but this really
works as it only goes to magnify, when he softens later on, just how much his
relationship with Dufrense means to him. His monologue at the end where he
talks about the loss of his friend and the decision, once released, to follow
his friend is magnificent.
Joe Absolom took on arguably the most difficult part of Andy
Dufresne. Difficult because the part requires the portrayal of a character who
contains himself throughout, yet by his knowledge, education and sheer
determination not to be broken, encourage others to follow him. It’s a subtle part
and I didn’t quite feel that Absolom’s performance quite hit the mark.
The ensemble cast were excellent but special mentions for
Kenneth Jay as the elderly book-loving Brooksie, Jules Brown as Rico, who gave
a glimmer of humour to some of the scenes (including a tendency to store ripped-out pages from Lady Chatterley’s Lover down his pants!), plus the menacing duo
of Bogs Diamond (played by Jay Marsh) and Rooster (Leigh Jones) who were
impressively unpleasant characters you loved to hate.
There are a few niggles. For this particular venue (The
Lowry capacity is 1,730) I wonder if the actors would have benefited from the
use of personal mics. Ensuring everyone can hear in such a large venue means it
becomes difficult for real light and shade, fear of dropping your voice lest
the lines be lost. Another thing that broke the spell were the fight scenes.
Brutality reigns throughout Shawshank and I found the fight scenes weak and lacking impulse.
Overall this is still a must watch production. The new
script O’Neill and Johns have written tells the story we expect, all be it with
some necessary changes due to the staging, but these changes are believable and
work very well. One new scene where Red and Andy are going through an inmate’s
belongings that have been bequeathed to them really works to show how much they
have learned to respect and care for each other. As for the final scene, where
Red and Andy meet on the beach, no spoilers here but lets just say that as with
the film (even now) they managed to bring a tear to me eye. This is
definitely a triumph from screen to stage.
Reviewer - Jen O'Beirne
on - 31.10.22
No comments:
Post a Comment