Following its final performance at the Apollo Theatre on 29 November 2025, producers have announced that profits from the West End run of Punch will fund a new version of the play to tour schools across the UK.
Olivier Award-winning playwright James Graham will adapt Punch for young audiences, working alongside director Adam Penford. The play, based on Jacob Dunne’s book Right From Wrong, was originally commissioned by Nottingham Playhouse and has enjoyed sold-out runs at the Young Vic, Nottingham Playhouse, and the West End.
Since premiering in May 2024, Punch has been seen by over 125,000 people, including 54,000 during its 10-week West End run. Over 10% of those audiences were school groups, with 171 schools and 5,700 pupils attending. Three performances were made exclusively available to schools and community groups through Go Live Theatre at £10 per ticket.
Producer Kate Pakenham said:
“There’s a wonderful virtuous circle about Punch’s journey from Nottingham Playhouse, to London and New York, and now into schools. 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.”
James Graham added:
“Punch began as a desire to write a story for my often-neglected community in Nottinghamshire. 18 months on, it’s a bewildering delight to me that it has become the first play to open simultaneously in the West End and on Broadway in over a century. 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.”
Adam Penford commented:
“Everyone at Nottingham Playhouse is thrilled that Punch will continue to have a real impact within the community, and amongst young people in particular. It demonstrates that theatre can be both commercially successful and have a tangible civic value.”
The schools’ version will be produced out of Nottingham Playhouse in 2027, supported by a catalyst fund created from West End profits and royalties waived by Graham and the producers. Teachers have already suggested the play has potential for inclusion on the national curriculum.
Punch tells the true story of Jacob, a Nottingham teenager whose impulsive act leads to fatal consequences, and his transformative journey through Restorative Justice. The original West End cast included Alec Boaden, Julie Hesmondhalgh, Tony Hirst, Shalisha James-Davis, Emma Pallant, and David Shields.
More information can be found here.
