Bosses of a new production of The Shawshank Redemption, in Cheltenham, feared they might upset folk because the iconic prison break story is set, er, inside a jail
A theatre has slapped a trigger warning on The Shawshank Redemption play because it’s about a prison.
The story – turned into a 1994 blockbuster starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman – follows the horrors of life inside, the value of friendship and a desperate plan to escape.
Despite its huge fame, the company behind a new production has issued a rather obvious trigger warning to viewers.
The box office for the Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham, released the following list of warnings to ticket buyers for the show.
One theatre lover said: “It is pretty obvious it is going to be about a prison.
“It is set in prison.
“Talk about stating the obvious.”
The warnings stated: “Prison, nudity, suicide, death, violence, sexual themes, sexual violence.”
The show scheduled for 2026 will run from 10 February to 14 February, as reported by NeedToKnow.
The stage show features 2017 Strictly Come Dancing winner Joe McFadden, Ben Onwukwe from London’s Burning and soap star Bill Ward.
Owen O’Neill and Dave Johns adapted the book and film into a theatre show.
A spokesperson for the show stated: “Based on Stephen King’s 1982 novella, this thrilling stage production examines 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 murders of his wife and her lover.
“Incarcerated in 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 start to 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.”
An Everyman Theatre spokesperson said: “Trigger warnings exist so that people can make informed decisions.
“For most of the audience, a glance at the content warning board won’t mean much.
“But for some, those warnings are vital.
“We aim to make theatre accessible for all and that is why trigger warnings exist.”
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