The Shawshank Redemption
Adapted for the stage by Owen O’Neill & Dave Johns, based on the novel from Stephen King
Directed by Katy Brown
Barter Theatre
Gilliam Stage
June 15th - August 17th, 2024
Production Team:
Scenic Design: Derek Smith
Costume Design: Alice Sullivan
Lighting Design: Andy Morehouse
Sound Design: Brandon Reed
About The Play
Based on the novella by Stephen King, and popularized by the highly acclaimed move, The Shawshank Redemption.
Andy Dufresene, a banker who spends 19 years of his life in the Shawshank State Prison, for the murder of his wife and her lover despite his claims of innocence. During his time in the prison he befriends our narrator Ellis Boyd “Red”Redding, and finds himself protected by the guards after the warden begins using him in his money laundering scheme. Along the way, we meet the colorful cast of characters within the prison. Andy must survive local politics within the prison and navigate his time with the warden. Will he be able to use new friendships to keep himself and his hope alive? Will he survive the danger and corruption within the prison’s walls?
The play decides to combine two scenes from the film into one. We have the scene with Andy getting the prisoners access to some films and seeing, “Put the Blame on Mame.” However, we also combine the scene the Andy being beaten and abused by “The Sisters” in effort to keep the power dynamics within the prison the same.
I decided to use the same film from the movie, and this is what gets us into the scene, the film ducks to a lower level as the scene begins. The film begins to morph and becomes more haunting to establish he’s in danger. Once “the sisters,” begin to abuse Andy, we hear a percussive metallic beat composed of sounds from the prison as the prisoners riot over the film that stops working.
Other Musical Transition
Here are a couple musical transitions from the show out of context. These are all original compositions for the show that served as musical transitions to specific scenes. I feel these are great representations for the style I was going for.
Photos provided courtesy of Barter Theatre
When I was approached about designing this production, immediately my mind started racing on how iconic the original soundtrack by Thomas Newman is. Should I be copying the original almost note for note? Do I do a slight variation on it? I found it hard to imagine this story without it. I began to doubt my own capabilities to write anything original.
Once I sat with our director Katy, she encouraged me to not revisit the original score. To come up with my own original interpretation. To embrace my own style of combining sound design and atmosphere with music. From there I began listening to Newman’s other scores such as American Beauty,A Man Called Otto,The Iron Lady, and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. I found myself loving the sparse arrangements of piano often layered with tonal drones and solo acoustical instrumentation. I decided to embrace that and I was able to create my own, but similar cinematic soundtrack. I embraced that Red would often break the fourth wall and use that to help emotionally guide our audience through the beats of the story. Those moments combined with pivotal plot moments from the iconic film, I created my own soundtrack for them. Scenes such as the rooftop tar scene, tommy’s hanging, Andy’s escape, and Red reuniting with Andy at the end. I created my own sparse arrangements of orchestral instruments layered with synth drones.
For sound effects and soundscapes, I aimed for realism and tried to help the audience aurally place themselves where we are. The scenic design was just the prison itself, so it became the job of myself and lighting to help us understand location. When we direct addressed the audience or had moments where we went inside of Red or Andy’s mind, I would alter the soundscape with effects to make it feel more liminal or off-kilter. This layered with the music allowed me to create my own original score and sound separate from the film.
The end result, I am happy with it. What was originally a daunting task, ended up becoming an incredibly enjoyable challenge. Not only did myself and the director enjoy it, the audience raved about it.
Top Of Show
Right away, from the moment our curtain speech ended, Katy wanted to immediately establish stakes, tension, and how dangerous the prison was. The moment the lights dim, the audience needs to feel how dangerous and ominous the environment we are glimpsing into is.
We begin to hear pouring rain as thunder kicks us off into a soundscape of the prisoners rioting in their cells, layered with percussive music created by layering in recordings of cell block doors being slammed shut, wrenches scraped against bars. buckets banging, and metallic winches grinding. Once the sequence ends we hear a tonal soundscape layered with soft emotive piano as we met Red our narrator. Establishing that he is guiding us through our journey and is our emotional anchor in this play. He introduces us to our new prisoners including Andy Dufresene.
The Sound Design
Suds On The Roof
A delightful interpretation of the classic scene of the prisoners tarring the rooftop. Andy persuades one of the officers to allow him to do his taxes for him revealing he was a tax consult before prison. In return, the officers allow the prisoners to drink some beers and enjoy the sun set in the distance.
We hear a musical transition that I composed to get us into the scene, followed by the soundscape of the outside in a sweltering summer day. The cast sits in this soundscape until we get the moment with the beers, which is underscored by hopeful sparse piano to really foreshadow how Andy will begin a change of events at this prison and influencing those around him.
The Screening Room
Tommy’s Hanging
Throughout the second act, Andy develops a mentorship-type of relationship with a young Tommy Williams, a man convicted of burglary. At this point, Andy has also been roped into helping the warden launder money for the prison. Profiting by undercutting skilled labor costs and receiving bribes. Andy in an attempt to refuse services to the warden, gets sent to solitary confinement, while he arranges for Tommy to be hanged under the guise of an escape attempt. The prisoners discover his body, and decide to give him a proper send off.
To highlight the tension of what the Warden has done, I used a low frequency drone to build tension. As the revelation is had, Andy and the prisoners rush to Tommy’s cell with climatic and frantic orchestral music. As they discover the body, the music ends and we hear a somber tonal atmosphere as they carry his body off.
From Parole to Reunion
By the end of the play, Andy has finally escaped the Shank and is on his way to Zihuatanejo. Red sits in front of the parole officers and lays bare his soul. Claiming that the prison has made him a changed man and he would never commit the same mistakes he’s done before. Parole is granted.
We start off by hearing the parole officers booming over Red. After his claims, we hear the parole granted. What follows is a hopeful, but dreamy and melancholic piano as Red tries to adjust to the outside world. He works for a brief period in a grocery store, gets use to hearing vehicles for the first time, before finally arriving at the tree where he finds Andy’s note. As he describes all of this we hear it in the background layered with the music, almost like memories he’s recalling for the audience. After reading the letter, the music shifts to a dreamy and hopeful tone, as we arrive on the beach of Zihuatanejo. The set opens to reveal Andy in the distance. As Red walks towards him, the lighting fades.