IAN Kelsey, who filmed his last episode as practice manager Howard Bellamy in BBC1's Doctors in July, is returning to his Yorkshire homeland to star in The Shawshank Redemption at Leeds Grand Theatre from tonight.

All this week, the York-born actor is playing banker Andy Dufresne, who has been handed a double life sentence for the brutal murder of his wife and her lover and finds himself incarcerated in the notorious Shawshank penitentiary.

Unflinching in his protests of innocence, Andy strikes up an unlikely friendship with prison fixer Ellis "Red" Redding, played by Patrick Robinson, whereupon matters 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 hatched quietly.

Based on Stephen King's 1982 novella Rita Hayworth And Shawshank Redemption, the play examines desperation, injustice, friendship and hope behind the claustrophobic bars of a maximum security facility in a stage adaptation by actor Owen O'Neill and Dave Johns.

York Press:

Ian Kelsey, centre, in a scene from The Shawshank Redemption

O'Neill, who plays Warden Stammas in theatre impresario Bill Kenwright's new touring production, first presented The Shawshank Redemption with Johns at the 2013 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, when Ian Lavender and comedians Omid Djalili and Terry Alderton were among the cast members.

The Shawshank Redemption is best known for Frank Darabont's 1994 feature film that starred Tim Robbins as Dufresne and Morgan Freeman as Redding and was nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actor for Freeman.

Ian Kelsey, 48, will leave his starring role in Doctors after three years in a closely guarded story line to be broadcast in November. He took his first steps as an actor at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, in York, and later graduated from the Guildford School of Music and Theatre.

In his television career, he spent four years as Patrick Spiller in BBC1's Casualty; three years as Dave Glover in Emmerdale; two years as Matt Brewer in Down To Earth; six years as DI Richard Mayne in Blue Murder and appeared as Jack Clayton in the final series of Where The Heart Is. On London’s West End stage, his credits include Billy Flynn in Chicago and Danny Zuko in Grease.

York Press:

Patrick Robinson as Martin "Ash" Ashford in The Shawshank Redemption

His co-star in The Shawshank Redemption, Patrick Robinson, also had a regular role in Casualty, in his case as Martin "Ash" Ashford, a staff nurse turned consultant.

The 2015 touring production is directed by award-winning Broadway director David Esbjornson, with design by Gary McCann and lighting by Chris Davey.

Esbjornson's past productions include the Broadway debut and West End premiere of Driving Miss Daisy, starring Vanessa Redgrave, James Earl Jones and Boyd Gaines, for which he received the What’s On Stage award for Best Revival. In 2005, he directed Hollywood star Rob Lowe in the West End premiere of Aaron Sorkin’s A Few Good Men, also produced by Bill Kenwright.

The Shawshank Redemption runs at Leeds Grand Theatre from tonight until Saturday at 7.30pm nightly plus 2.30pm matinees on Wednesday and Saturday. Box office: leedsgrandtheatre.com or 0844 848 2700.