The Shoeshank Redemption

Friday March 27 2015

YOU might have seen their ‘Bad Dad Dancing’ at Heart and Soul 2014, but this year, the ‘Shoes Brothers’ – the Rev Neil Urquhart and Father Willie Boyd – have gone to jail for their efforts… and created ‘The Shoeshank Redemption’.

Neil, who is minister at Fullarton Parish Church, Irvine, explains: “Father Willie (of St Mary’s Church in Irvine) and I have been working together for several years now, trying to address community issues and especially sectarianism in the area.”

He adds: “We’ve been doing various send ups of films and characters to help spread the message.

“We like to try to use popular culture to influence people and have tried several incarnations in the past. We’ve done the ‘Min in Black’ and done ‘A Bridge Too Far’, but we’re both fans of The Blues Brothers and so we created ‘The Shoes Brothers’.

“Our stint inside Greenock jail was a very special one.

“It was really a great privilege to be allowed access to the prison and the people there.

“Suzanne Loftus of Cutting Edge Theatre Company was brought in by the Prison Governor, William Stuart, once we’d agreed to do the project because he knew we would benefit from her previous experience working with some of the prisoners. She helped the participants to create the plot, write the script and participate in the filming.”

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Around 13 prisoners, both men and women, were involved in writing the script and some staff also acted in the short film. Neil says there were many, many more involved in the whole production.

 “Though sectarianism is still an issue in the area in general, inside the prison itself it’s not such a huge problem.

Father Willie and Rev Neil have been friends for years and decided that the best way to tackle sectarianism in the community was to tackle it together.

During some of the sessions held with the young people in the video, sectarianism was discussed, with most having had some experience of it.

“Their experiences were different – some more severe than others – but it was something they were keen to tackle through the platform of drama.

“Greenock is a prison that houses both male and female prisoners and both took part in the film though they are not normally allowed to mix.”

Neil describes the filming and the whole ‘Shoeshank Redemption’ as a hugely positive experience. The team have produced student learning materials to use with the film for use in schools and youth groups so that they can explore the issues surrounding sectarianism.

“We use a lot of self-deprecating humour in our work and it’s a very Scottish way of breaking down barriers. We’ve posted the videos on YouTube and have had a largely positive feedback, though some thought we should have got longer than three months for our ‘bad dad dancing….’

“The fact remains though, that the world we show of people living together in peace, is really the kind of world that most people actually want to live in, and we’ll keep trying to do our bit to make it that way.”

You can watch the video, and more produced by the Shoes Brothers, on their YouTube channel.