13 – 18 February

The acclaimed stage version of the nation’s favourite movie comes to The Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham, from February from Monday 13^th – Saturday 18^th Feb 2023.

Despite protests of his innocence, Andy Dufresne (Joe Absolom) is handed a double life sentence for the brutal murders of his wife and her lover. Incarcerated in the notorious Shawshank facility, he quickly learns that no one can survive alone.

Andy strikes up an unlikely friendship with the prison fixer Red (Ben Onwukwe), and things start to take a slight turn for the better. However, when Warden Stammas (Mark Heenehan) decides to bully Andy into subservience and exploit his talents for accountancy, a desperate plan is quietly hatched.

Based on Stephen King’s 1982 novella Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, this thrilling stage production examines desperation, injustice, friendship and hope behind the claustrophobic bars of a maximum-security facility. The 1984 feature film starred Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman and was nominated for seven Academy Awards.

Joe Absolom’s impressive TV career has barely seen him off our screens in 25 years: from Matthew Rose in EastEnders to Al Large in Doc Martin, Christopher Halliwell in A Confession and Andy Warren in The Bay. Ben Onwukwe boasts a 30-year stage career including leading roles with the RSC and Royal Court, as well as 11 years on TV as Recall McKenzie in London’s Burning and more recently, the role of Jackson Donckers in Professor T.

Cast/Performers

Joe Absolom (Andy)

Ben Onwukwe (Ellis), 

Mark Heenehan (Stammas), 

Owen Oldroyd (Entwhistle), 

Leigh Jones (Rooster), 

Joe Reisig, Jules Brown, Kieran Garland, Coulter Dittman, Kenneth Jay, Jay Marsh

Creatives/Company

Author(s):  Owen O’Neill, Dave Johns (from a short novel by Stephen King)
Producer:  Bill Kenwright
Director:  David Esbjornson
Design:  Gary McCann
Lighting:  Chris Davey