Punch by James Graham – Reviews Round-up at The Young Vic London & Nottingham Playhouse

The Young Vic London: "Another state-of-the-nation masterpiece from James Graham"

"James Graham’s play, based on the story of Jacob Dunne who killed a man with a single punch in 2011, is a powerful meditation on morality"

"Punch, a richly deserved transfer from Nottingham Playhouse, is resolutely personal and political, too: a state-of-the-nation play which never hectors its audience. The result is a compelling examination of the human cost and consequences of violence."

"The strength of Graham’s writing is complemented by Adam Penford’s direction which is always sensitive, and is marked by an almost balletic grace."

"... David Shields is exceptional as Jacob"

"Ultimately this is a powerful meditation on morality, fuelled by the assertion that people can – and do – change."

The Young Vic London

"James Graham’s passionately argued and deeply moving play Punch"

"... it is theatre as social commentary and as an empathy machine. It’s not a perfect play, but it is one that every single person should see."

"The action is high intensity, rapid, swaggering, with Adam Penford’s direction and Leanne Pinder’s stylised movement creating a restless sensibility as Jacob charges up and down Anna Fleischle’s bleak set with its concrete underpass"

"In part, the effect of the play is a tribute to the real people behind it... But its force also springs from its immediacy, from the way Graham, with great subtlety and skill, weaves a picture of a society where young people are lost to the systems that are meant to help them, forced to make impossible choices in their lives."

Nottingham Playhouse: "Five stars for James Graham’s most moving work yet"

"The Dear England playwright’s adaptation at Nottingham Playhouse of Jacob Dunne’s memoir about killing a man with one punch is heartbreaking and heartwarming"

"If it sometimes feels as if James Graham is the one playwright regularly allowed to address big themes on big stages, Punch is a reminder of why he is so special. Heartbreaking and heartwarming, flecked with horror but also with good jokes, this is Graham’s third new play in 12 months."

"... this Nottinghamshire-born playwright has never been more moving and rarely been more adroit than he is here as he adapts Nottingham man Jacob Dunne’s memoir Right From Wrong. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard more stifled sobs in an audience than in the scene in which Dunne finally meets the parents of the man he accidentally killed with one loose punch in the summer of 2011. I doubt I was the only one biting my hand so as not to cause a scene."

"It’s a study of the power and the challenges of change and forgiveness. I am so, so happy to have seen it."

The Young Vic London: "James Graham’s acclaimed drama about the build up to and aftermath of a single devastating punch is another triumph for the unstoppable hitmaker"

"Absurdly prolific as he is, it sometimes feels like we could do with cloning playwright James Graham a few times... Punch, which originated at the Nottingham Playhouse last year, is the perfect example of what he does."

"Shields is terrific as Jacob: his performance is a modulated study in the ferocity but also the innocence and vulnerability of a young offender."

"... Graham is good at analysing and, yes, explaining the remarkable trajectory of Jacob’s life, his story broken down into forensic bites of reminiscence, narrated by Shields and the five other cast members, who take on a multitude of roles."

"But it’s not like he just knocked it out: 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."

The Young Vic London: "It's a knockout"

"It's all in the title: a thumping, in-yer-face drama that leaves you winded — and in tears. Once again the prolific, prodigiously talented James Graham (Sherwood on the telly, Dear England at the National) uses a real-life story to illustrate and interrogate Britain’s crumbling social and political fabric."

"Punch is essentially a true parable and the compression of necessary information as well as time can make it feel schematic, if only by Graham’s dazzling theatrical standards. But Adam Penford’s superbly performed production, which began at Nottingham Playhouse and is now Broadway-bound, lands its message like a piledriver. Right — of sorts — can come from wrong. And in that respect, Punch is a knockout."

The Young Vic London: "James Graham’s bracing real-life drama of actions and consequences hits home"

"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."

"David Shields puts in a career-making performance as the young man."

"As the victim’s mother, Julie Hesmondhalgh is remarkable. Though utterly forthright, her performance is full of small, self-deprecating, what-am-I-like gestures that you might think would register only in closeup."

"There is a strong, overtly stated social message about the waste of life here: why, one character asks, do people understand that, left to themselves, potholes will turn into gaping holes, but fail to recognise that cracks in humans and their circumstances will turn into abysms. Punch persuades us that this need not be so."

Nottingham Playhouse: "James Graham’s tragic study of a fatal blow"

"A teenager kills a trainee paramedic with a single strike on a night out in Nottingham in this deftly directed play based on a real story"

"Fabulously directed by Adam Penford"

"It is a powerful study of problematic young masculinity that defines itself through swagger, reputation and recreational violence. Jacob’s endeavour to remember what happened is a form of therapeutic memory retrieval and a facing up to what he did. But typically for Graham, the drama also zooms out to the bigger picture, bringing its own politics around issues of social deprivation in an era of austerity, the prison system and young offender institutions."

"Every actor shines, from Shields’ agile and energetic performance to the fleet ensemble who double up, at speed, to play characters around him, including James’s parents (played by Julie Hesmondhalgh and Tony Hirst, both tragically stoic)."

"What is extraordinary is that tucked inside this grave account of crime, punishment, forgiveness and rehabilitation is warmth and humour. You leave the auditorium feeling hope."

Nottingham Playhouse: "James Graham’s deeply moving new play explores the impact of a fatal blow"

"Themes of suffering and redemption run through the truth-based drama at Nottingham Playhouse"

"The punch that features in the title of James Graham’s humane and immensely moving new play is an infamous one"

"But while the case itself is awful, out of it emerged something hopeful. That paradox lies at the heart of Graham’s drama, which dives into the role of restorative justice and the nature of redemption. It’s a timely examination of masculinity, violence and the destructive impact on individual lives of economic decline and the decay of social infrastructure. And like so much of Graham’s work — the hit play Dear England; the TV series Sherwood — it’s a drama that runs counter to the acrimony that defines so much public discourse and quietly champions compassion and deeper understanding of what drives social unrest."

"In the end this is a beautiful, eloquent and significant play about social deprivation, justice, the profound grace of forgiveness and, above all, empathy."

Nottingham Playhouse: "Emotionally bruising"

"James Graham’s new play is a powerful, detail-packed exploration of violence and redemption"

"Graham crams in a mass of themes: the corrosive effects of austerity; toxic masculinity; and a potted history of social housing in Nottingham’s infamous Meadows. Penford keeps the unwieldy play moving at a good pace, infusing the grubby, deeply personal story with gravitas and grandeur. Rushing fluidly between scenes, performers create striking images – kids on rollercoasters, rioters smashing storefronts, shadowboxing youths."

"David Shields is riveting as Dunne, switching registers between the swagger and aggression of his teenage years to the emotional articulacy of his adulthood. There is ferocity in his performance, but also unexpected vulnerability."

"In truthfully recreating this tentative, methodical process, Graham allows the pacing to flag during the overstretched second act, but all the groundwork-laying pays off with a sequence of heart-wrenching conversations close to the play’s end, when Dunne meets James’ parents in person. Ultimately, the play forms a powerful argument for centring empathy at the heart of our society."

Nottingham Playhouse: "James Graham’s study of mindless yobbery will be eye-opening for teens"

"This new drama at Nottingham Playhouse, based on the true story of a teen who killed a stranger with a single punch, is searingly powerful"

"Above all, a powerhouse performance by the chiselled David Shields imparts the adrenaline rush of Dunne’s druggy, self-centred delinquency and the long-term disarray that ensues after he shatters lives in that mindless split-second. Shields brilliantly switches between modes, showing us the charismatic rogue Jacob once presented himself as, the wiser figure he became, and the sheepish picture of abject humility who squirms in the courtroom and tries to voice his contrition upon facing his victim’s parents as part of a restorative justice initiative."

"Hesmondhalgh’s mother visibly struggles to rationalise the incomprehensible, before reaching for surrogate maternal warmth, an arduous journey written in worry-lines and faltering smiles. There are no pat answers, but Graham suggests the human miracle of the sudden leap of faith. The punch itself is barely evoked. Instead we witness a careworn father finally shake the hand that did the deed and marvel at the distance travelled, on both sides."

The Young Vic London: "James Graham’s morality tale should be staged in schools"

"This play about street violence has a strong cast and its heart in the right place, even if the writing doesn’t go deep enough"

"James Graham’s heartfelt play about street violence is very much a force for good... YIf I were the education secretary, I’d be writing out a cheque now."

"Still, after a well-received premiere at Nottingham Playhouse last May, it’s slightly disappointing to discover that Graham’s adaptation of Right from Wrong, the memoir by offender-turned-criminologist Jacob Dunne, is quite heavy-handed. Adam Penford’s production certainly has its heart in the right place, and the central performances — especially from David Shields as Dunne himself — are very strong. But Graham’s script often feels uncomfortably close to the Ted talk that the young ex-con is booked to deliver at the very end."

The Young Vic London: "James Graham’s Punch is a powerful yet sometimes preachy take on violence and reform"

"Parents meet the teenager who killed their paramedic son on a night out in Nottingham"

"Transferring to the Young Vic, its thoughtful search for meaning in a senseless act leaves the audience noisily sobbing."

"David Shields is utterly convincing as a 19-year-old lad who’s drifting, looking to beef up his flimsy excuse for a life with pub brawls."

"Julie Hesmondhalgh and Tony Hirst deliver moving, grounded performances as James’ grieving middle-class parents"

"But still this play often feels overly didactic, with little moral complication, and little to surprise or challenge existing views you might have of any of the people involved... Instead, it’s a potent, emotive shot of hope, one that defuses its drama with profound care and sensitivity."

The Young Vic London: "Powerful"

"James Graham’s drama about a single-punch killing builds to an emotionally devastating climax"

"t’s a gut-twisting tale to which Graham brings his customary eye for pungent detail and the bigger, socio-political picture. But the manner of its telling, in a production directed by Adam Penford, is disappointingly pedestrian; it’s a shame the approach isn’t more theatrically inventive, and less literal."

"... there are slightly self-consciously interpolated discussions of the hollowing out of post-industrial communities, of architecturally disastrous housing where drug-dealing and gang violence breed, and the impact of government cuts on probation and rehabilitation systems. Important, worthwhile stuff, but it’s delivered by thinly written figures who too often feel like mouthpieces. For all that, though, this is a play with a powerful message about the value of individual lives, the terrible impact of a thoughtless act of violence, and the almost miraculous capacity of human beings for understanding and change."