The Shawshank Redemption to Play the West End with Anderson and Cathey

Following a sell-out run at the Gaiety Dublin, The Shawshank Redemption will make its London debut at Wyndham’s Theatre on September 4, 2009, with opening night set for September 13. The production, by Owen O’Neill and Dave Johns, will play a limited engagement through February 14, 2010. Peter Sheridan directs a cast of 20, led by two American actors: Kevin Anderson and Reg E. Cathey.

Anderson will play Andy Dufresne. His Broadway credits include the recent revival of Come Back, Little Sheba, Brooklyn, Death of a Salesman (for which he won a Drama Desk Award and was nominated for a Tony) and Orpheus Descending. He played Joe Gillis in the original London production of Sunset Boulevard opposite Patti LuPone in 1993. He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his work on the television series Nothing Sacred. His film credits include Miles from Home, Sleeping with the Enemy and Charlotte's Web.

Cathey will play Red. He was most recently seen on the hit HBO series The Wire. He had a recurring role on the HBO prison drama Oz and has made guest appearances on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Homicide: Life on the Street and. His Broadway credits include The Green Bird, and he has appeared on the New York stage in Macbeth and The Taming of the Shrew.

Based on the 1982 novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, the play follows Andy Dufresne after he is wrongfully incarcerated at the notorious Shawshank Prison for murdering his wife and her lover. Stripped of his family and freedom, Andy is forced to endure a spirit-crushing prison routine. With his quiet strength and inner courage there is one thing that Andy never loses, however: hope. A film adaptation of the original story was released in 1994 starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman; it garnered seven Academy Award nominations.