The Shawshank Redemption actors visit Birmingham lock-up as UK stage tour ends

The Shawshank Redemption has arrived at The Alexandra Theatre and cast members of the show visited the old Steelhouse Lane lock-up in Birmingham as the show comes to the end of its UK Tour.

The actors paid a visit to the old lock-up which is now the home of the West Midlands Police Museum.

Three of the actors from the thrilling stage show, currently running at The Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham, visited the famous lock-up where notorious members of The Peaky Blinders, including sadistic killers such as Fred West, were confined as they awaited trial.

The Shawshank Redemption actors inside one of the cells at the notorious Birmingham lock-up

Joe Absolom (who plays central character Andy Dufresne in the drama), Ben Onwukwe (who plays the role of Ellis ‘Red’ Redding which was made famous by Morgan Freeman in the film version) and Joe Reisig (who plays the part of prison guard Hadley in the stage adaptation) posed for pictures in the perfect setting of the historic lock-up, in full costume from the show, replicating what life is like when banged up.

The West Midlands Police Museum is a unique police museum in the heart of Birmingham, a Victorian lock-up built in 1891 which was a working police cell block until 2016.

The former Victorian lock-up in Birmingham is now a police museum

The former Steelhouse Lane lock-up was the perfect venue for the actors from The Shawshank Redemption to visit and have some photographs taken to commemorate the end of the 2022 UK Tour.

Based on Stephen King’s 1982 novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption and adapted by Owen O’Neill and Dave Johns, this thrilling stage production examines injustice, friendship, and hope – including the spirit of freedom – behind the claustrophobic bars of a brutal prison.

The 1994 Hollywood film, starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, was nominated for seven Oscars. The Shawshank Redemption is now widely recognised as a classic movie and is a huge source of inspiration to film makers, with The National Film Registry citing the film as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.

Joe Absolom takes on the role of a man in search of truth and friendship

Stephen King’s powerful story follows the fate of Andy Dufresne who 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.

Dufresne strikes up an unlikely friendship with the prison fixer Ellis ‘Red’ Redding, and things take a slight turn for the better.

Actor Joe Absolom, who plays the part of wrongly-convicted Dufresne, said: “The Shawshank Redemption is one of my favourite films, an incredibly moving tale of friendship and injustice, and I’m thrilled to be playing the iconic role of Andy Dufresne on stage around the UK.”

Ben Onwukwe is spellbinding in the role of the world-weary Red

Ben Onwukwe, who reprises his critically acclaimed performance as Red which he first performed in the 2016 tour of The Shawshank Redemption, said: “I’m delighted to be returning to the role of Red in this amazing production.

“The Shawkshank Redemption film is one which many hold close to their hearts, and it’s exciting to be bringing Stephen King’s story to new audiences.

“It is a modern meditation on HOPE and in these times, it is Hope that we need.”