Paul Nicholls, Jack Ellis And Ben Onwukwe To Star In The 2016 UK Tour Of THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION

Paul Nicholls, Jack Ellis and Ben Onwukwe will star in the 2016 UK Tour of The Shawshank Redemption. Following a hugely successful 2015 tour, Bill Kenwright's production, inspired by the classic film and based on the short novel by Stephen King, begins performances 31st August at Theatre Royal Windsor.

Directed by award-winning Broadway director David Esbjornson, this powerful and acclaimed production is adapted from Stephen King's novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, which was made into the 1994 Oscar Award winning film The Shawshank Redemption and is regularly voted as the nation's favourite film.

The Shawshank Redemption follows Andy Dufresne, a banker handed a double life sentence for the brutal murder of his wife and her lover, who finds himself incarcerated in the notorious Shawshank penitentiary. Unflinching in his protests of innocence, 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...

The play examines desperation, injustice, friendship and hope behind the claustrophobic bars of a maximum security facility. The movie starred Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne and Morgan Freeman as Ellis 'Red' Redding and was nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actor for Freeman.

PAUL NICHOLLS (Andy Dufresne) is best known and loved for his role as heart throb Joe Wicks in EastEnders, and has since appeared in acclaimed television programmes Grantchester, Death in Paradise and The C Word. Paul made his West End debut in Long Day's Journey Into Night at the Lyric Theatre before appearing in Festen (Lyric, West End) and Vincent in Brixton (National), both directed by Rufus Norris. He has also appeared in several plays at the Tricycle, Bush, Hampstead and Almeida.

BEN ONWUKWE (Red) boasts a 30 year stage career having appeared in productions at The RSC and The Royal Court Theatre. Television credits include EastEnders, Coronation Street and Doctors but his most prominent role was as Stuart 'Recall' McKenzie in London's Burning, a character he played for over a decade.

Keeping them in line, Jack Ellis will play the part of Warden Stammas. Jack is best known for his role as prison warder Jim Fenner in the hugely popular ITV television series Bad Girls, in which he appeared for seven series. Jack's television credits include Prime Suspect and Coronation Street. His theatre credits include Sam Mende's production of Richard III (Old Vic, World Tour and Brooklyn Academy Of Music in New York), Great Expectations (Vaudeville) and Yaël Farber's production of The Crucible (Old Vic).

Stephen King is one of the most popular authors of contemporary literature and has written 54 published novels which have sold more than 350 million copies around the world, many of which have been adapted into feature films.

David Esbjornson is an award-winning international director and his work includes the Broadway debut and West End productions of Driving Miss Daisy starring Vanessa Redgrave, James Earl Jones and Boyd Gaines, for which David received the Whatsonstage Award for Best Revival for the West End run. In 2005, he directed the West End premiere of Aaron Sorkin's A Few Good Men, produced by Bill Kenwright and starring Rob Lowe.

This powerful acclaimed production is adapted by Owen O'Neill and Dave Johns with design by Gary McCann and lighting by Chris Davey.

For more information please visit Kenwright.com

SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION 2016 UK TOUR

31st August - 3rd September
Box Office: 01753 853 888
Theatre Royal Windsor
Website: theatreroyalwindsor.co.uk

5th - 10th September
Box Office: 0843 208 6000
The Lowry, Salford
Website: thelowry.com

12th - 17th September
Box Office: 01227787787
The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury
Website: marlowetheatre.com

19th - 24th September
Box Office: 01934 645544
Playhouse Theatre, Weston-Super-Mare
Website: parkwoodtheatres.co.uk

27th September - 1st October
Box Office: 01902 429 212
Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton
Website: grandtheatre.co.uk

3rd - 8th October
Box Office: 0116 242 3595
Curve Theatre, Leicester
Website: curveonline.co.uk

10th - 15th October
Box Office: 01293 553636
The Hawth, Crawley
Website: hawth.co.uk

17th - 22nd October
Box Office: 023 8071 1811
Mayflower, Southampton
Website: mayflower.org.uk

24th - 29th October
Box Office: 01332 59 39 39
Derby Theatre
Website: derbytheatre.co.uk

31st October - 5th November
Box Office: 020 3285 6000
Churchill Theatre, Bromley
Website: churchilltheatre.co.uk

7th - 12th November
Box Office: 0844 871 3020
New Oxford Theatre
Website: atgtickets.com

14th - 19th November
Box Office: 0844 856 1111
Blackpool Opera House
Website: wintergardensblackpool.co.uk

21st - 26th November
Box Office: 0844 871 7647
Theatre Royal, Glasgow
Website: atgtickets.com

28th November - 3rd December
Box Office: 0114 249 6000
Sheffield Lyceum Theatre
Website: sheffieldtheatres.co.uk

5th December - 10th December
Box Office: 01702 351135
Palace Theatre, Southend
Websites: southendtheatres.org.uk

Photo: Mark Yeoman

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