Comparison between our improvisation project and The Shawshank Redemption

Comparison between our improvisation project and “The Shawshank Redemption”

During this term we have been working on presenting a play based on the theme of liberty. Our particular play is entitled Checkpoint Charlie. This is for option three, improvisation. I will be devising as well as developing this play with three other students from my GCSE drama class in a group of four. I will play the role of Hannah; the daughter of Franz and Bridgett and a sibling to Peter. Hannah is the oldest of the two children. Hannah cares a lot her about her brother, Peter and sacrifices herself instead of him to move away with her alcoholic father, Franz. We began working on this play in January and we expect to present this to the rest of our class in March.

The storyline of our play is based on a German family struggling with the effects of a physical barrier; the Berlin wall. We have tried to include our research, for example the dates of which important events happened. We also did some research about a man named Peter who actually died trying to cross the Berlin wall, so our play relates to a true story.

To research our project we watched the film “The Shawshanks redemption”.

The Shawshanks Redemption is a 1994 movie, written and directed by Frank Darabont. The film's main character, Andy Dufresne, was wrongly convicted of murdering his wife and was sentenced to two life sentences in a jail with very harsh conditions. However, even though these prisoners were treated particularly badly he is able to maintain his “pride, humanity and hope,” in order to survive. He not only does this for himself, but he manages to inspire other prisoners to do things which they wouldn’t necessarily do before as well. The one person Andy inspires the most is a character called Ellis 'Red' who becomes his greatest friend inside. Red said that Andy seemed "as though he had a coat on that could protect him from this place." Which is true, because throughout the film you can see Andy’s mind is still free of imprisonment, even though most prisoners accept the fact that they are there for good. Andy concentrates on thinking up an escape plan which eventually he succeeds in doing. Towards the end of the film Red makes his friend Andy a promise that if he was to ever leave Shawshank he will find a certain tree in a certain field and discover what lies beneath it. Red finally after serving forty years gets paroled, but when he is free he finds the outside world lonely and strange which makes him feel afraid. Red’s only motivation was to set off and find the place Andy had spoken of. Buried beneath the tree was a letter from Andy with some money, the letter read: "Remember Red, hope is a good thing. Maybe the best of things. It never dies. I'm hoping this letter finds you and finds you well. Your friend Andy".

Reds final words were how he thought hope was the best thing in the world and what he hoped for. He hoped to go and join Andy in Mexico. “I hope I make it across the border. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope to see my friend and shake his hand. I hope…”

The film shows how prison life affects prisoners when they are released from jail. When people are in jail for a long period of time, they get used to the simplest things in life. Prisoners get ...

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The film shows how prison life affects prisoners when they are released from jail. When people are in jail for a long period of time, they get used to the simplest things in life. Prisoners get food, have a place to sleep, have clothes to wear, and have books to read. They adapt to the guards always telling them when to wake up or when to eat breakfast. Prisoners get so used to these things that when they get out of jail, they don't know what to do with themselves. In the words of an important character, Andy Dufresne, they have to "Get busy living or get busy dying”. In the case of Brooks, a long term prisoner, he was unable to cope with fitting back into society after his release and committed suicide not long after.

Life in the mid twentieth century in America was a violent time, it was a gun owning society and at this time America was racing for world dominance. This era was full of conflict between society’s after the end of World War ll. There was a rise in rebellious behaviour and the civil rights movements taking place in the segregated south. All the events that took place in the 1950s led the way into the 1960s. Communism was still heard about during the Vietnam War, the beats ideas were carried on by hippies, and the Civil Rights Movement carried on well into the 1960s. At this time also, there were distinct gender roles between men and women and the different duties they had. Women were particularly subservient to men and therefore gave the impression that women are not as capable as men. After the war the movement to get rid of the death penalty in America was interrupted by the support of capital punishment. By 1920, 5 states that previously abolished capital punishment had reinforced the penalty. From 1918 to 1959 4,700 people were executed in the United States.

Film is different to theatre for many reasons, one of them being the fact that film is more realistic to the eye where as theatre is more descriptive and symbolic. As a result of this the film, “The Shawshank redemption” can make you more aware of how harshly prisoners were treated. Directors can use real places like prisons, and cells to really get the story across, where as with theatre there is just one stage and you are very limited as to what you can do to make it seem like the actors are actually there.

Now that I have watched and researched the film “The Shawshank redemption” I can relate the characters and issues to the play we are currently working on in class. The main thing that stands out to me is the physical barrier in both stories. The prison gates are what is stopping Andy and Red from freedom. They are unable to see there families and do the usual day to day life things, such as taking a walk wherever they like, staying out until as late as they want, eating and sleeping at there own accord. This is similar to the family in our play because of the Berlin wall. Its stopping them from seeing their family, they live in fear of being shot in case they are caught suspicious around the wall. They don’t feel free because of this huge block in the middle of there country. They feel trapped and incapable of moving the barrier that is stopping them from freedom, much like Dufresne.

The prisoners in Shawshank love to be able to have a drink, it’s the one time they feel like free men. Much like the character of Franz in our play.

He is an unhappy man and drinking is his way of coping with the reality of the Berlin wall.

At the end of our play, the youngest boy Peter in attempt to cross the wall gets caught and shot. At the very same moment he had got freedom he got shot down, and it was all taken away. This resembles the prisoners that got paroled or freed from Shawshank. As soon as they got everything that they wanted, they couldn’t cope and ended up committing suicide.

In our 15 minute play we will use a variety of lighting techniques to help give the effect of day or night, or for example setting a cosy scene in the living room. We will use freeze-frames and black outs on one side of the room and on the other have the current scene lit up, going back and forth to show how both families are coping on opposite sides of the Berlin wall.

In conclusion, what I hope to learn from this project is how to improvise and how to use techniques with lighting and stage props. In my last play I didn’t have as many lines because I played a smaller role. I hope that by the end of this piece I will have more confidence in being able to play more complex and important roles and will be able to work even better in a group.

By Cloe Mann☺