Punch – Leeds Playhouse

Writer: Jacob Dunne

Adapter: James Graham

Director: Adam Penford

In Nottingham in July 2011, James Hodgkinson aged 28, was killed by a single punch. His only crime was having a drink in fancy dress, when a drunken altercation over an accessory turned fatal. Jacob Dunne, aged 19, pled guilty to Manslaughter, and served half of a 30-month sentence for the death. Punch tells the story of how Dunne came to be in such a position, the childhood that led up to it and the life that he lived afterwards, thanks to a restorative justice program which put him in touch with Hodgkinson’s parents.

The show is adapted by playwright James Graham, with the full blessing of Hodgkinson’s parents, from Dunne’s own book, Right from Wrong: My Story of Guilt and Redemption. It’s a bleak premise for a play, one that threatens to overshadow the victim in favour making the perpetrator out to be just some misunderstood child who needed better support. Which is undeniably true, of course. Dunne grew up on a low-income counsel estate, in a single parent household with an alcoholic mother, and didn’t get the help he needed to manage his Autism and ADHD at school, so by a young age had fallen into thuggish gangs, drugs, alcohol and violence. But it never once feels like any excuse is being made. It’s an explanation, not a pity party. James Hodgkinson is kept at the front by regular cuts to his parents as they debate life support, appeals and the nature of forgiveness, and his Mother Joan (a suitably understated but passionate Finty Williams) gives a speech about who he was as a person which brings tears to the eye over the senselessness of his loss. The show never feels preachy either, even though it is ostensibly designed as a way of educating the audience about restorative justice and the dangers of one punch.

Jack James Ryan plays Jacob, barely ever leaving the stage and talking constantly. His performance is an absolute powerhouse, pulling the audience into Jacob’s world and mind. He is sympathetic, frustrating and eminently engaging in the role as he pinballs around the stage. Williams and the four other actors (Elan Butler, Matthew Flynn, Grace Hodgett Young and Laura Tebbutt) fill out the world with other youths, family members, parole officers, prospective girlfriends and provocative felons in multirole castings that sometimes change quicker than the eye can follow. Flynn’s final scene as Hodgkinson’s father David is especially wonderful, you could hear a pin drop in the audience (aside from the sniffles).

The stage and technology are the final ingredient to this heartfelt evening. The music is loud, the lights are bright, and the pace is relentless (the actors’ microphones are a little echoey however, but it is to be hoped that was just opening night levelling issues). The circular underpass of the set by Anna Fleischle feels at turns claustrophobic and intimate, as lighting by Robbie Butler and sound by Alexandra Faye Braithwaite transport us from the overcrowded and buzzing chaos of the Nottingham nightlife and Jacob’s pre-punch brain in Act One, through to the calmer and more focused atmosphere of Act Two. Fleischle’s costumes are kept simple, but are donned and doffed at such speed that the character switches are never confusing. The whole visual cacophony is a delight to witness.

Punch is an incredibly powerful show, full of breath-taking design and talent, with a very worthwhile message at the heart. There is anger, sorrow and ultimately love soaring across the stage, and it is certainly one not to miss. It is to be hoped that Punch is accessed by boys like Jacob, a bit lost, struggling, and looking for guidance. We owe it to their future. Nottingham Playhouse, who originally produced the show, have teaching materials and learning guides on their website for parents, teachers and individuals to use with the young people in their lives, or for their own self-reflection. Friday 10^th April in Leeds there is a post-show discussion with the real Jacob Dunne, plus Ed Davies from the Centre for Social Justice. With a growing appreciation of the challenges facing boys and young men today, and the risk that more and more are being pulled towards Dunne’s former lifestyle thanks to incel social media and a perceived lack of care around them, both the show and these resources form an important conversation piece.

Punch is certainly one that will stay with you.

Runs until Saturday 11 April 2026