New Stage Production The Shawshank Redemption Heads to Blackpool Opera House

Oscar nominated film The Shawshank Redemption is to become a new stage play in a production visiting Blackpool Opera House this year.

Based on the short novel by Stephen King, The Shawshank Redemption is regularly voted as Britain’s favourite movie ever.

And now West End theatre and film producer Bill Kenwright is to bring a new production of the play, which examines desperation, injustice, friendship and hope, to the stage.

The Shawshank Redemption will run at Blackpool Opera House from 14 – 19 November.
Tickets go on sale from 10am Wednesday February 24 and are available from www.wintergardensblackpool.co.uk

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, regularly voted Britain’s favourite ever movie, 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 to see The Shawshank Redemption at Blackpool Opera House are priced from £14 and go on sale at 10am Wednesday February 24 from www.wintergardensblackpool.co.uk