Punch - UK Tour Review - Theatre Royal Plymouth

A storm can begin at the flap of a wing; the tiniest mite packs the mightiest sting. 

No, this isn’t Matilda the musical, but instead a quote to illustrate a greater point about how one action, big or small, can ripple, grow, explode even, and change the lives of multiple people forever. Especially if that one single action is one single punch. 

Written by James Graham, Punch tells the real-life stories of both Jacob Dunne and James Hodgkinson, the thrower and the recipient of one single punch respectively. In that moment that changed everything, to Jacob, a lad perhaps down on his luck, the punch was just action, a split second of a rowdy drunken night out with the lads from Nottingham’s Meadows estate, but to James, a young trainee paramedic, that split second started the countdown clock of his life, and nine days later, he passed away due to the injuries caused by that single punch. 

Jacob spent 14 months in prison for manslaughter, haunted by guilt and paranoid that he would never regain a sense of life or normality. James’ parents, Joan and David, haunted by grief, chose not to shout and scream, chose not to simply see Jacob as the monster who took their son away. No, they turned instead to restorative justice, and chose, rather miraculously, to reach out and ask Jacob why he did what he did on that night, outside a pub in Nottingham. 

What unfolds is an exploration of the justice system through the eyes of both the victim and the criminal. Restorative justice isn’t really talked about, with the idea of the victim of crime wanting to meet and talk to the person who committed it seeming strange or wrong in a way, but Punch brings it to the forefront with the story of Joan, played here by Finty Williams, and David (Matthew Flynn), learning that their James wasn’t a unique case of death by one punch, and reaching out through restorative justice to work with Jacob to spread awareness.

Jack James Ryan plays Jacob, rarely off stage and illustrating a rollercoaster of emotions. A young lad from a looked down upon council estate, where causing trouble, gangs and drugs were the day to day, and the biggest game was getting around the ups and down of the rabbit warren estate without being seen by the security cameras. Nights out were about drinks, girls and fights, that was life. But meeting Joan and David, and hearing the question of what are you going to do now from them as he leaves prison changes the route of his life. Ryan puts in a powerhouse performance, with the first act being a mix of drama and spoken word as he describes his life and how it changed after that one punch.

Williams is a stand out as Joan, a grieving mother who just can’t stop mothering, even reaching out with a sense of care and genuine interest in the life of the young man who killed her son. Depicting what an incredible women the real Joan is. She didn’t want her son’s death to be in vain, she wanted to use his story to make a difference, even if that meant forming a partnership with Jacob. Matthew Flynn plays multiple parts, from the grieving father who struggles to see past the right hand that threw the punch to a lecturer who teaches about the working classes whilst Elan Butler plays Jacob’s younger brother Sam and estate mate Raf. Laura Tebbutt also doubles up, playing both Jacob’s mother and his promotion officer Wendy with Grace Hodgett Young playing both love interest Clare and restorative justice worker Nicola. The ability for these performers to jump from character to character should be praised, with only the quick change of a coat signalling the change between and them making each as unique as the last.

The set is plain and decked out in tones of grey, illustrating the harsh concrete of inner city council estates one moment then the slamming of a prison door the next. Lighting is cleverly used to show nightclubs, search lights and too bright overhead lighting of meeting rooms with chairs in circles for difficult conversations. The story flows quite quickly and, at times, the first act can be a little confusing with regular time jumps in the story but in a way that matches with the erratic ups and downs of Jacob’s emotion. The first act perhaps runs a little long, with it easy to see where the story is going, leaving the audience thinking that we could reach certain points in the story a little sooner.

Overall, Punch is a powerful piece, and whilst you do instantly get wrapped up in the story and the action, which blends heart pounding drama with clever injections of comedy and relatability, it is important to remember that it is all based on a real story. James, a bright young man who loved his work and his family, did die a horrible death. Jacob did serve time for his crime, and he did deliver that blow. Joan and David lost a son. But out of that darkness, Joan and David found a space in their heart to make good, to reach out and talk. And even today, Joan and Jacob are still campaigning, spreading the word of one punch. Ultimately, that harsh truth that is woven into every moment of this production, it what makes it hit home, it makes you realise that this is reality, and the difference that the handling of justice can make.