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Sara Keating: Arresting theatre puts the human condition under the spotlight in Shawshank Redemption

With characters isolated and behind bars, the use of the prison setting on stage offers a microcosm of power structures and poses ethical questions to the audience

Ben Onwukwe and Joe Absolom in Shawshank Redemption, playing at the Gaiety Theatre. Picture: Jack Merriman

Forget about the traditional domestic living room set – a prison cell offers a perfect microcosm for exploring the human condition on stage. Isolated from outside influence, it places characters under the spotlight and audiences are asked a series of moral questions as a result.

Is it possible to sympathise with a criminal who freely admits his crimes? Is it possible to believe in redemption? “Should a felon really reap what they’ve sowed?” as Warden ...