The Shawshank Redemption at Flat Rock Playhouse
There isn’t much hope — no hope at all, actually — of my viewing Flat Rock Playhouse’s production of The Shawshank Redemption outside the context of the 1994 film that shares its name. That movie, despite a lukewarm theatrical reception, nonetheless raked in Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, before being burned into my and many others’ memories over the ensuing decades via endless cable reruns and VHS tapes in the homes of nearly everyone I knew. It is, in every sense of the word, an American classic.
So, the first question — and the most obvious one — I will get to quickly: Does the play measure up to the movie?
It does not. And this is not the fault of gifted director Lisa K. Bryant, or the players who deliver remarkable performances, and certainly not of the innovative set and sound design that convey the cold claustrophobic weight of the prison. It is just that the movie remains the ideal version of this tale, more so even than Stephen King’s 1982 novella “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption” that provided the source material for both the movie and this play.
And that is an important distinction to make, as this 2009 script by playwrights Owen O’Neil and Dave Johns, does not claim to be an onstage version of the movie, but an adaptation of King’s original work.
Thus, The Shawshank Redemption has its own look, feel, and delivery that I am happy to say stands on its own as a harrowing prison story, complete with the desperation and danger, resolve and renewal, the saga calls for.
The story takes place over the course of three decades, from 1948 to 1975, a timeline marked by projections above the stage of whichever year we are in — plus some cleverly subtle costume updates from costume designer Ashli Crump. And with only one brief exception, the whole of the action takes place entirely within the walls of the Shawshank State Prison in New England.
Red (Joe Pallister), is a weathered lifer who knows how to “get stuff” and serves as the narrator, opening the show by addressing the audience and occasionally breaking away from the action throughout the performance for additional asides. The approach serves not only to provide exposition, but also broadcasts Red’s own reactions — frustration, amazement, glee — at the things he is witnessing. It’s an effective affectation that makes a solid connection with the audience, perhaps even more so than Morgan Freeman’s disembodied voice-overs in the film.
Though Red plays a large part in his own story, his tale’s true center is the quiet and shrewd newcomer Andy (Lawrence Street) — a banker wrongly convicted for his wife’s murder — who is seemingly in no fashion built for prison existence.
We are also quick to meet the rest of the characters, and many of the fellow inmates take notice of Andy, much to his detriment. The dangerous and violent Bogs (Paul Vonasek) and his unhinged droog Rooster (Matt Wade) target him for assault, and as time passes, it becomes apparent that two prison guards (Cody Howard and Joseph Sherer) and Warden Stammas (Scott Treadway) offer malice of their own rather than protection. And as these characters claim their places on the stage, it’s easy to feel the inescapable presence of the threat they pose, whether in the prison’s yard, the dining hall, or lined up for roll call.
Only a couple of fellow inmates — librarian Brooksie (Pasquale LaCorte) and new guy Tommy (John Selby) — are seemingly without ill intent. Brooksie’s dedication to his library and seeming immunity to outside aggression, and Tommy’s oblivious naivete provide some of the only respites from the unending haunting nature of their surroundings, even when their individual ends are grim reminders that for people like Andy, the odds are not in their favor.
But despite Red’s admonishment to let go of hope, Andy is not inclined to give in to resignation. Over the course of the years, and the play’s two-hour run time, he quietly but steadily arranges things in his favor where he’s able, and how those efforts converge and eventually emerge are the wild cards even Red does not see coming.
Kudos are deserved and earned by a cast willing to step in such well-worn shoes. Street’s Andy is, if anything, even quieter and more level than Tim Robbins’ movie portrayal, which serves to create a distressing contrast when he’s pushed past his breaking point. Pallister plays the role of Red not with the resigned stoicism embodied by Freeman’s turn in the role, but with a veneer of confidence not quite concealing his own caution and angst. The villains are terrifying, and their violence — especially two disturbing scenes of prison rape — is even more upsetting for being on the stage rather than the screen.
The sense of claustrophobia is enhanced by an impressive and inventive combination of Dennis C. Maulden’s set and lighting by Logan Taylor that employs projected images and video on three prison walls to convey the passing of time, changes in location or even, in some of the most dramatic moments, extreme closeups of actors’ faces to express the intensity of the emotion we either cannot see or they are not free to express. The atmosphere is made even more foreboding by Allen Sanders’ ever-present sound design of clanking cell doors or even low monotone drones that instill a sense of dread and helplessness. Overall, the experience is intense enough that there were a few audible gasps and moans from the audience at the Sunday matinee performance on opening weekend.
If there is a weakness to The Shawshank Redemption — a soft spot in the prison wall, as it were — it’s in the script from O’Neil and Johns that hits all of the story’s linear elements but blunts some of the crucial narrative reveals. The Shawshank Redemption is a story of time, of patience — a hero’s journey and slow yet decisive transformation. But it is also a puzzle to be gradually divulged, and the impact of those reveals is what, in the film, makes us cheer Andy on and boo the bad guys. Credit is due to O’Neil and Johns for resisting the temptation to serve up a “greatest hits” version in their adaptation, but pulling those punches often leaves the story as stifling as a prison cell and tamps down the sense of surprise.
And that’s where we return once again to the film. Because we know where those reveals are, and how meaty and important they are for the story. And maybe I wouldn’t miss them if I didn’t know the movie — but I do, and I did miss them. So if you haven’t seen the movie, you’ll likely find plenty of gritty, slow burning intrigue and, yes, even redemption, in The Shawshank Redemption. And if you have seen the movie, this is at least an interesting alternative take on a much-venerated tale.
The Shawshank Redemption runs through Sunday, June 30, at Flat Rock Playhouse. For details and tickets, visit flatrockplayhouse.org
(Photos: Scott Treadway/Treadshots)
