Is This James Graham’s Most Powerful Play Yet?

Written by James Graham and described by one critic as Graham’s “most moving work yet”, Punch tells the true-life story of a single fatal punch. James Hodgkinson, a 29-year-old on the brink of qualifying as a paramedic, was out in Nottingham after a day spent watching the cricket when teenager Jacob Dunne punched him in an unprovoked attack.

Hodgkinson was taken to hospital but died when his parents, Joan and David, took the decision to switch off his life support after a bleed on the brain. Dunne served 14 months in prison for manslaughter. But that was not the end of the story. Through a process of mediation and restorative justice, Joan and David and Jacob forged a relationship which continues to this day. In the play Jacob says, “It will always astound me that the people I harmed the most in the world were the ones who believed in me and helped me the most in return.”

Previous Punch production photo.

It's a play which asks every member of the audience to ask themselves what they could and could not forgive, as well as exploring how restorative justice -- which brings victims and perpetrators together in tightly controlled circumstances-- could be transformative for the criminal justice system because the evidence proves that it stops reoffending. Time Out declared: “Punch is on the smaller side for a James Graham play, but its climax will have you blubbing. He can’t tell every story, but once again you’ll be grateful he told this one.”

Jacob Dunne, who dropped out of school at 15, has, as a result of restorative justice and with the support of Joan and David, taken exams, been to university, become a criminologist and written a book, Right from Wrong, on which Punch is based. If that all sounds rather worthy, it’s not. It’s a play full of laughter too. Expect to hear a pin drop at times in the auditorium.

The play, which originated at Nottingham Playhouse before transferring to the Young Vic, arrives in the West End in the same season in which it will premiere on Broadway. It’s already an award winner. David Shields, who plays Jacob, won a UK Theatre Award for best performance. The rest of the cast is cracking too and includes Julie Hesmondhalgh as Joan.

Previous Punch production photo.

It's a reminder that British regional theatres tell great stories and how often it is that local stories prove most universal. All power to Nottingham’s artistic director, Adam Penford, for spotting the story’s dramatic potential and getting the in-demand James Graham, himself a Nottinghamshire lad, to write it.

It's not just theatre critics who have acclaimed the play and its importance. Labour MP Lilian Greenwood told parliament that Punch “raises important questions about young men and their offending behaviour and shines a light on the potent power of restorative justice.” In his summing up in a case of GBH, the presiding judge said that it was a play people needed to watch to understand the dangers of violence.

Just as it took a TV drama, Mr Bates vs the Post Office, to bring the miscarriage of justice to wider public attention, Punch is a strong reminder of the power that storytelling can have to alert people to wider issues in society—casual violence amongst young men—and examine the criminal justice system and how it might deliver not just punishment but genuine justice to those who come into contact with it.

Previous Punch production photo.

As Susannah Clapp wrote in the Observer, “It is extraordinary, the gathering force of Punch. How it begins as a singular history and ends as a universal statement. How – as the theatre is uniquely equipped to do – it actually incarnates change.”

It never forgets the victim, James Hodgkinson, and is dedicated to him “and all the victims of one punch.”

Cover image from Punch, playing at the Apollo theatre from Mon 22 Sep - Sat 29 Nov 2025. Book your tickets via our website or app.