How do we make sense of a senseless act? James Graham’s searing and unforgettable new drama, Punch, digs into a real-life incident in Nottingham, England in 2011 when a 19-year-old hooligan named Jacob Dunne delivered a single punch to the face of a 28-year-old stranger named James Hodgkinson that resulted in the latter’s death. The fallout from that single act unfolds in such unexpected ways that this becomes the rare play that delivers both tragedy and uplift.
Will Harrison (Daisy Jones & the Six) is a hyperactive wonder as Jacob, who opens the show with an adrenaline-fueled monologue about his upbringing as the oldest of two boys to a single mom (Lucy Taylor) in a public housing unit that’s rife with drugs and gangs and an overriding toxic masculinity where a night out with the lads is likely to culminate in violence. “A fight’s coming tonight. Gonna be throwing some hands,” Jacob tells us matter-of-factly. “And I can’t wait.” Director Adam Penford stages these scenes with a kinetic energy that hints at a full-scale modern musical production. The 10-person cast, many of whom double and triple up their roles, moves with tightly choreographed precision (movement by Leanne Pinder) under by Robbie Butler’s clublike lighting and Alexandra Faye Braithwaite’s music and sound design. We can feel the rush of youthful energy diverted to risky behavior that could turn catastrophic at any moment.
We can also sense how this lad with an absent dad could get caught up in a scene where he felt he always had to, in his words, “go farther, drink faster, walk taller and most importantly… fight harder” just to prove himself. Jacob, who shares his backstory in retrospect as part of a group therapy session, interestingly describes himself as trying to feel “present” with the dominant culture around him as a teenager looking to fit in — and quickly notes that “I probably wouldn’t have used that word, back then.” Through Harrison’s remarkably confident and forthright performance, we can see that Jacob’s already seeking to process his experiences through a new filter of honesty and accountability.
Punch, which is based on a memoir by the real Dunne, shouldn’t be mistaken for a stage version of the recent Netflix hit Adolescence with a more working-class protagonist. It’s less interested in the origins of Jacob’s criminal mindset than in whether a kid who’s done something unforgivable can ever get himself back onto a better path. Jacob’s sent to prison for 30 months, and stews about the one-time pals who snitched on him to the cops, but he also shows flashes of regret and a desire for accountability.
The possibility of rehabilitation is fueled in part by the assistance of some unlikely individuals: the parents of the young man he killed, played with a mix of fury and compassion by Victoria Clark and Sam Robards. James himself never appears on stage, and yet he emerges as an individual worthy of our attention through his family’s palpable grief — who are at a loss of how to comprehend their son’s death and frustrated in their quest for answers.
The play’s second act unfolds at a more measured pace, as if the cast has popped some Ritalin to diffuse the ADHD tempo of the first half, to dramatize an unusual restorative justice program that allows victims’ families like the Hodgkinsons to come into contact with criminal offenders. The process involves a lot of counseling sessions, some cautiously exchanged letters allowing Jacob to explain that he had no intention to kill or even seriously hurt James, and an eventual face-to-face meeting so raw and emotionally charged that it auditorium of the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre likely needs to be mopped for all the puddles of tears. While Graham occasionally overplays Jacob’s redemption arc (do we really need to see his TED talk about the dangers of a one-punch to the head?), he also draws an admirably clear distinction between appreciation for someone who manages to turn their life around and a more sweeping idea like forgiveness. That allows Punch to not only pack an emotional wallop but conclude on a note of genuine hope. ★★★★★
PUNCH
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, Broadway
Running time: 2 hours, 25 minutes (with 1 intermission)
Tickets on sale through November 2 for $84 to $292
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