AMATEUR THEATRE REVIEW: The Shawshank Redemption - The Garrick Playhouse, Altrincham. Greater Manchester.

Altrincham Garrick have transformed their stage rather convincingly, into a dank, dark, grey, bare and metallic prison block inside the Shawshank Penitentiary in Maine, USA. This foreboding and sparse set, together with low-key lighting, a little haze, and no auditorium music is what greets us as we take our seats this evening. The prison guard walks the prisoners in and they file into their cells one by one. It's sombre, it's ritualistic, and it is scarily real. 

This is 'The Shawshank Redemption', a stage adaptation of the classic Stephen King novel and award-winning film that followed. However this was my first visit to 'The Shank' .I have never read the novel, nor have I seen the film. I was therefore watching this story unfold for the first time, and was always trying to second-guess the narrative; sometimes with more success than others.

Directed by The Garrick's Artistic Director, Joseph Meighan, the play had moments of genius juxtaposed with moments of tedium. I was watching a play which was at times hard-hitting and realistic with the actors performing naturalistically, whilst at times we transcended this and were transported into the realms of theatrical and presentational acting. Perhaps this was deliberate, but I am not convinced that it worked. Admittedly, this was opening night, and so the actors might well have been a little more tentative than once the play beds in, but still, there were many long gaps and "thought" pauses, especially between scenes as the cast were tasked with bringing set items in and out. The pace was set right from the start as slow, and sadly, it never truly moved out of this the whole evening. Moments of genius (and pure theatricality) did pop up occasionally, and Brooksie's attempted suicide was one such highlight. Although I found the play dynamically rather pedestrian, the characters were clearly defined, the ennui and quotidian routine of the prison well observed, and the storyline clear and nicely signposted. 

Taking the lead role of Andy Dufresne in this brave and bold production (which pulls absolutely no punches!) is the quietly confident and continually hopeful Tom Broughton, whilst the narration and equally important role of Ellis 'Red' Redding was played by a sympathetic and believable Lewis Sewell. It is a large, all male, ensemble cast, and everyone on stage knew their roles well and how they fit into the play. They all had backstories, and all were fully-rounded characters which is in itself, a very important aspect of this production, and credit here to Meighan for bringing this to bear. 

The action of the play takes place over a twenty year period, and the audience is asked to use their suspension of disbelief in this regard, however, none of the cast age either physically or visually, which, perhaps would have been the cherry on the icing if they had.

With a couple more performances for this play to 'bed in' and the actors to pick up on their cues, lifting the pace a little where needed, this will be a very compelling, forthright, and uncompromising piece of theatre.

Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 14.9.23