James Graham's Punch to tour schools using profits donated by West End producers

A new version of James Graham’s Punch specifically for young people will tour to schools across the UK thanks to profits from the play’s West End run. 

Producers of Punch at the Apollo Theatre, as well as Graham, have declined royalties from the show, instead choosing to channel them into bringing the play directly to pupils. 

Nottingham Playhouse artistic director Adam Penford, who directed Punch’s premiere at his venue in 2024, will work with Graham to create the new version. Punch dramatises the memoir of Jacob Dunne, who killed a trainee paramedic with a single punch outside a pub and served 14 months for manslaughter.

The announcement marks the culmination of efforts by producers including Kate Pakenham and Phyllida Lloyd of KPPL Productions to use profits from the West End show to help more young people watch the play. 

Mark Gordon Pictures and Eilene Davidson Productions, who co-produced Punch in the West End with KPPL Productions, are also donating royalties from the show towards a "catalyst fund", which they hope will be built upon by further financing with the aim of sharing a school’s version of Punch in 2027. 

"There’s a wonderful virtuous circle about Punch’s journey from Nottingham Playhouse, to London and New York, and now into schools," Pakenham said. 

"We heard directly from thousands of young people in the West End how powerfully the story speaks to them, and are thrilled that West End success means that we can now take it directly to them in schools. 

"Teachers have encouraged us that there is huge potential for Punch on the national curriculum, and we are excited to build partnerships to explore this over the coming years. 

"As we head into this next journey for this important new play, we recognise with gratitude the real people whose story this is and the exceptional artists who made the original production. We hope that the 54,000 people who saw Punch in the West End can feel a sense of pride at their part in making this next step for Punch possible.”

Graham’s play, which he called a bid to platform his "much-neglected" Nottinghamshire community, has become the first play in more than a century to open simultaneously in the West End and on Broadway - a feat he called "a bewildering delight".

"Given all that, it felt right to approach a West End run in a new way, with a social mission behind it. I’m thrilled that, by declining royalties, thousands of young people who would never have been able to see a West End play got to experience one, and that Punch now has a life beyond courtesy of the generosity and ambition of our remarkable producers.”

Penford added: "When I first approached the real-life people whose story we’re telling, I promised them that the play would be more than just entertainment and would assist in their campaign work.

"I’m grateful that the producers also bought into this ethos and through their generosity, we can continue to deliver on this pledge.”