Broadway Review—James Graham’s New Play, “Punch”

Punch

Written by James Graham

Directed by Adam Penford

Through November 2, 2025

Friedman Theatre, 261 West 47th Street, New York, NY

manhattantheatreclub.com/Livestream available

Will Harrison in James Graham’s play Punch (photo: Matthew Murphy)

Based on the true story of Jacob Dunne—who spent 14 months in prison for manslaughter after punching a stranger in a fit of anger—James Graham’s Punch is the kind of visceral, emotionally satisfying play we need more of on Broadway. 

In 2011, Jacob was a feisty 19-year-old living with his single Mum and younger brother Sam in a working-class Nottingham neighborhood. Hating school, Jacob spent time with his buddies, drinking away the afternoons. One day, after celebrating a pal’s birthday, Jacob was informed about an altercation; without thinking, he jumped into the fracas and coldcocked James, a man he didn’t know. Running away, Jacob didn’t realize that a single punch made James crumple to the ground, hit his head and never regain consciousness in the hospital, where his grieving, stunned parents, David and Joan, sadly watched him fade away.

After Jacob’s release from jail, his sympathetic probation officer Wendy is contacted by Nicola from the charity Remedi, whose goal is restorative justice, trying to give victims’ families some sense of closure. Jacob ends up corresponding and—in a tense but unforgettably realistic scene—with David and Joan, who try to understand why their beloved and only son had to die so meaninglessly. 

Jacob’s story is a rich ore for any playwright, and Graham makes few missteps dramatizing this stirring story of redemption. Although the play’s arc is familiar, as Jacob narrates his long and winding journey (he becomes a new man after prison, gaining unlikely allies in James’ parents), Graham’s savvy writing and Adam Penford’s resourceful staging turn what could have been a sentimental tale into something generous and humane. The first-rate production features Robbie Butler’s illuminating lighting design, Anna Fleische’s versatile set and evocative costumes, Leanne Pinder’s precise movement and Alexandra Faye Braithwaite’s atmospheric music/sound design.

Will Harrison is a perfectly pitched Jacob, effortlessly doing the heavy lifting of making seamless transitions as the story toggles between the hotheaded teenager and the mature adult atoning for his sin. Members of the flawless supporting cast—all of whom play multiple characters marvelously—include by the redoubtable Victoria Clark, who’s heartbreaking as Joan and hilarious as Jacob’s Nan, and Sam Robards, whose conflicted David is beautifully complex. Punch is a play that pointedly provokes.