The Shawshank Redemption

Theatre Royal Brighton, New Road, Monday, September 7, to Saturday, September 12

IT may have flopped in the US on release, but Frank Darabont’s movie The Shawshank Redemption has gained a vociferous following in the years since 1994.

It regularly tops lists of the best films ever made. No less talent than director Steven Spielberg has described it as his “chewing gum movie” – once you’ve stepped in it you can’t get it off your foot, or in other words if you start watching it you’re hooked until the end.

“Funnily enough The Shawshank Redemption had more popularity in Europe and the UK than it did in the US,” says David Esbjornson, director of the live stage version from where it is premiering in Windsor.

“England embraced it first and then it came back and became kind of an important movie after the fact in the US. It wasn’t just a good story, but a good film.”

When it came to taking on the story of wrongly jailed banker Andy Dufresne and his experiences in the maximum security prison of the title, Esbjornson looked towards Stephen King’s original novella rather than the film itself.

But one essential component of the movie which has transferred across is the character of Red, played in the movie by Morgan Freeman, but originally envisaged in the story as a red-haired Irishman.

The two central characters are played by Doctors star Ian Kelsey and Patrick Robinson of Casualty fame.

“The Shawshank Redemption lends itself to dramatic interpretation,” says Esbjornson.

“There are two very strong characters at the centre of it. It’s the story of a friendship between two guys which develops over many years.

“When it’s between two men of different races, which would perhaps have put them at more of a distance in the time the story is set, it becomes all the more wonderful. They really learn to understand and accept each other.”

Esbjornson admits he didn’t have to work hard to create that chemistry between his two leads.

“They took to each other,” he says. “The chemistry just seemed to develop as part of the rehearsal process. We didn’t have to force it in any way.”

There is a central irony to the tale which Esbjornson admits he finds fascinating.

“When people apparently want to reform inside the institution, or are trying to do the honourable or right thing they are severely punished or killed for it,” he says.

“This institution is supposedly there for reformation, to make the prisoners good members of society, but as a result of the punishment it’s not true at all – they are corrupted and all sorts of very nasty things happen.”

What makes the film so uplifting is Dufresne’s decision not to take this laying down, and instead find his own way of literally escaping the system with the help of a series of girlie posters and a small rock hammer.

“I think what makes the story so compelling is we come to realise Andy is telling the truth about his innocence,” says Esbjornson.

“Through Red we come to realise everyone comes into Shawshank protesting they either got a bum rap or didn’t do it, or there were extenuating circumstances. They feel entitled to be part of the outside world, that they are just as good as anyone else on the outside.

“There are criminals today that have destroyed the economy who are walking around free, while other people are inside because they don’t have the means to stay out.

“I think the public is interested in a story in which somebody who should have deserved justice finally gets it in their own way through their cunning and resources.”

The prison system has changed from the story’s 1960s setting – with it becoming harder for inmates to escape.

“I don’t think they even stick prisoners in the same cell for more than a month now,” he says.

“Just recently there was an escape from a maximum security prison in upstate New York – there were two men on the run for several weeks.

“There are still ways that it can happen!”

Starts 7.45pm, 2.30pm matinees on Thurs and Sat, tickets from £11. Call 08448 717650.