Shawshank stage show comes to Opera House

The beloved film, based on the Stephen King short novel, will be retold on stage in the autumn as part of a new tour.

Oscar-nominated film The Shawshank Redemption is regularly voted among the nation’s favourite flicks.

And now West End theatre and film producer Bill Kenwright is to bring the play to the resort stage with tickets on sale from Wednesday.

The production celebrates 22 years since the release of the 1994 movie starring Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins and is adapted by Owen O’Neill and Dave Johns and directed by David Esbjornson.

Winter Gardens managing director Michael Williams said: “We are very excited about The Shawshank Redemption coming to the Blackpool Opera House.

“This is a completely different kind of production for us but one we are sure will be incredibly popular.

“Millions of people have enjoyed this classic film over the years and it is now time to see it transferred to the stage in what is sure to be a truly fantastic production.”

Based on the 1982 novella Rita Hayworth And The Shawshank Redemption, the play examines desperation, injustice, friendship and hope behind the claustrophobic bars of a maximum security facility.

The 1994 feature film was nominated for seven Academy Awards.

Despite protests of his innocence, Andy Dufresne is handed a double life sentence for the brutal murder of his wife and her lover.

Incarcerated at the notorious Shawshank facility, he quickly learns that no one can survive alone.

Andy strikes up an unlikely friendship with the prison fixer Red, and things take a slight turn for the better.

However, when Warden Stammas decides to bully Andy into subservience and exploit his talents for accountancy, a desperate plan is quietly hatched.

Tickets for The Shawshank Redemption at Blackpool Opera House, from November 14 to 19, cost from £14 and go on sale at 10am on Wednesday at www.wintergardensblackpool.co.uk.