The wonderful Leeds Grand Theatre is going through a purple patch at the moment insofar as the variety of its presentations is concerned. The last three productions have been a conventional 1920s drawing room comedy, a juke box musical, a ghost story and this evening, we have a gritty prison drama, not for the faint-hearted.
When I saw that this was a Bill Kenwright Ltd Production I was afraid that it would lose a lot of its impact and be injected with an element of farce, as has happened with several of their ‘thrillers’ in the past. Thank goodness I was wrong – again – as this was one of the most absorbing productions I have seen in a while. Don’t get me wrong, there was plenty of humour involved, but it stuck to the stir crazy variety rather than the silly sort.
The play has been adapted by Owen O’Neill and Dave Johns from a short story by Stephen King, who, in turn, had been influenced by Leo Tolstoy’s 1872 work, God Sees the Truth But Waits. It was also made into a film in 1994 – the Stephen King version, not the Tolstoy one.
The inmates welcome new boy Andy Dufresne, Joe McFadden
The action, which spanned twenty years or so, is set in the Shawshank Maximum Security Penitentiary, run by the ruthless governor, Warden Stammas, played by Bill Ward, and features a new inmate, Andy Dufresne (Joe McFadden) who has wrongly been found guilty of murdering his wife and her perceived lover. As a result of this he is handed two life sentences. Presumably the US legal system is a great believer in reincarnation.
Red, Ben Onwukwe, doing some business with Andy, Joe McFadden
On arrival he befriends Ellis ‘Red” Redding, who is the prison fixer and can seemingly obtain anything for a price. It appears that this is a practice to which Warden Stammas turns a blind eye, as he also has several supplementary income streams which are far from legitimate. Red, played by Ben Onwukwe, also acts as narrator and guide to the nuances, and more open aspects, of prison life.
In the outside world, Andy was a high-flying trader so his accountancy skills appealed to Warden Stammas as he was au fait with tax avoidance and could maximise the illicit income. This proved to be a double-edged sword, as it bought him respite from the section of the inmates who had been treating him as a sex toy, but had made him so useful, as to destroy any hope he had of having his pleas of innocence backed by the Governor in case he was released. He did, however, manage to get the prison library increased from a few books on a trolley, to shelves in part of the old paint room, much to the delight of Brooksie, played by Kenneth Jay, who was older than the others and acted as librarian. Red informed us that the men who gang-raped other inmates didn’t regard themselves as homosexuals as their victims were straight!
Not such subtle foreplay toward Andy, Joe McFadden, from Sean Kingsley, as Bogs Diamond, and Rooster, played by Ashley D Gayle.
Andy took advantage of Red’s contraband service by purchasing a rock pick, ostensibly so he could pursue his hobby of mineral collecting and carving, as well as a large poster of Rita Hayworth, to whom his wife bore a striking resemblance. Both would play a pivotal part later in the play, but I won’t include any spoilers.
Warden Stammas, played by Bill Ward, has Andy, Joe, McFadden, ‘escorted’ back to his cell
The play was in two acts; the first set in the 1940s, hence the Rita Hayworth connection, and the second in the 1960s. The mood was set by some great snippets of music, from big band singers in the first, to Motown classics in the second. It was in this latter period that another new inmate, Tommy Williams, (Kyle Harrison-Pope) arrived, who desperately wanted to pursue his education to help him get parole. Andy was only too eager to help and took him under his wing. Once again, Warden Stammas turned the young man’s ambition to his own advantage, with disastrous consequences.
Tommy Williams, Kyle Harrison-Pope, is given the hard word by Warden Stammas, Bill Ward.
I will leave things there as, whilst not a whodunnit, there were some surprises and twists which are best seen with no inkling as to the outcome. There are also some touching moments better experienced with no prior knowledge.
As previously stated, there are a few harrowing moments, none of which was graphically portrayed, but powerful all the same. Sometimes the implied is more effective than the stated. On the lighter (?) side, Samarge Hamilton, as Rico, added some perfect comic timing as the ultra religious fanatic who had murdered his wife and children when he realised that he couldn’t support them so thought they would be better being looked after by God! He would later turn his attention to a tome acquired by the expanded library, from which he extracted a few pages keeping them tucked down the front of his underpants. The book – Lady Chatterley’s Lover.
Red, Ben Onwukwe, and Andy, Joe McFadden, with Rita Hayworth looking on.
I thoroughly enjoyed this play on all levels and, should you prefer your drama on the heavy side, I recommend you go see it.
The Shawshank Redemption runs at Leeds Grand Theatre until Saturday, 23rd May. For details and booking please go to https://leedsheritagetheatres.com/whats-on/the-shawshank-redemption-2026
For other offerings from Leeds Heritage Theatres see https://leedsheritagetheatres.com/whats-on
Photographs by Jack Merriman
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