FESTIVAL THEATRE | The Shawshank Redemption
SEEKING REDEMPTION
As popular hit The Shawshank Redemption heads for the stage, Eddie Harrison meets a director putting a fresh spin on it
T he i lm version of Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption initially l opped back in 1994, but since then, the story of Andy Dufresne’s battle for survival in a tough penitentiary has wormed its way into the most revered echelons of pop culture. And now it hits the stage at this year’s Fringe, where Stephen King’s novella has been adapted as a play, boasting an all-star cast and a high proi le director in Lucy Pitman-Wallace (formerly of the Royal Shakespeare Company). Company).
78 THE LIST FESTIVAL 1–8 Aug 2013
‘This isn’t an adaptation of the i lm; Owen O’Neill and Dave Johns have created an essentially theatrical experience,’ says Pitman-Wallace. ‘When I read the book, I found that the character of Red, played by Morgan Freeman in the i lm, is actually an Irishman. Seeing these differences frees you up as a director to take things in a fresh direction; after all, the play, the book and the i lm are all three different things.’ So why should it be that The Shawshank Redemption is a story that the public the public simply can’t get enough of? Pitman-Wallace has her own ideas abo ideas about the enduring appeal of King’s story. ‘What A ‘What Andy does in prison is to do with i nding ways of staying sane in a sane in a terrible situation. He uses books, movies and sculpture, he even he even makes up a prayer. His method of survival is a perfect metapho metaphor for the creative process, and demonstrates the importance of storyt of storytelling in our lives,’ says Pitman-Wallace. ‘It’s something that rea that really speaks to my own experience as a theatre director. I worke I worked with Seamus Heaney and he used to talk about how storytel storytelling was vital to the mental health of the nation. I see that idea in idea in this story.’
‘The result is an amazing explosion of energy’
Takin Taking a break from rehearsals in baking hot London, it’s also also clear that putting the show on may pose a few obstacles to Pi to Pitman-Wallace. This production follows a popular Fringe form formula, (Twelve Angry Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Nest) with an ensemble of recognisable actors, ranging in this insta instance from Omid Djalili to Ian Lavender. ‘We ‘We got very interested in the mixture of stand-up comedians and and actors, which is almost like some kind of social experiment and and can be very challenging at times. For example, Jack (Mo (Monaghan) is a young man from drama school, and is a con conventional actor compared to, say, Terry Alderton, who is ver very much versed in stand-up tradition. So you have a cast from from very different comic and theatrical backgrounds. One, I wo won’t say who, said to me “I’m not a stand-up, I’m a comic act actor”. They all come from different backgrounds, and they all all prepare themselves in different ways, no one is less valid tha than the other. The result is an amazing explosion of energy.’ G Getting your cast out and about is a Fringe tradition, but Pi Pitman-Wallace has no plans to frog-march her ensemble ca cast up and down the Royal Mile handing out l yers. ‘ ‘It’s an interesting idea, but I’m not sure I’d ever want to let th them loose on the public in quite that way!’ Assembly Rooms, 0844 693 3008, 2–25 Aug (not 12), A 4 4.50pm, £16 (£12). Preview 1 Aug, £15 (£11).
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