I’ve got a bit of a backlog of blog posts to write but I didn’t want to forget to make a note of the UK tour of The Shawshank Redemption. The play is an adaptation of the Stephen King short story and/or the movie and is just as tense and oppressive as both of those other mediums.

Joe McFadden stars as Andy, and I’ll be honest, I’d seen him in another play and didn’t rate it very much so had low expectations. He was great though, the accent was on point and he managed to convey the bold determination even whilst everything was beating down on his character with great skill. The show was stolen by Red, though, just as it is in the film. Ben Onwukwe has that great charisma, cheekiness, but frank honesty about life that is exactly what is required for this role.

The staging is simple but great, with only small props indicating changes in location. It helps to be predominantly based in one prison, so you just have to roll on a bookcase to show you’re in the library, or a bed to show you’re in one of the cells.

I think some might find the pacing a bit slow, but there’s a tension in the slow-build, and the gradual layering on of prison horrors, so that the pay off at the end is all the better. If you can focus and get invested on these characters, even the smaller ones who only pop up every now and then, then it’s really worth ever moment.

This was a great production. I believe the tour has ended now, but if it comes round again, it’s definitely worth checking it out.