STEVE JOHNSON relishes a celebration of the commonality of folk music and its links with the struggles of working people the world over
Routine delinquency
MARY CONWAY admires an accomplished drama that explores the consequences of a fatal punch on a desolate housing estate
LOOKING FOR JUSTICE: David Shields as Jacob Dunne in Punch
[Marc Brenner] 
This thriller is a politically charged and morally complex dive into climate activism and police repression, judges JENNY FARRELL
Cat show killer, avenging the pawns, women hunt the Ripper, and running dry in the outback
The Bard reflects on sharing a bed, and why he wont go to Chelsea
MARY CONWAY applauds a new play that foresees the unscrupulous tactics of a future far-right minority government
RON JACOBS is moved to tears by an eloquent journal of heartfelt intensity and human portraiture
ROBERT OVETZ recommends a case study, from the University of Leicester, in their struggle against precarization, AI, privatisation, outsourcing, and work intensification in higher education
Punch
Young Vic
PUNCH lands at the Young Vic with all flags flying.
Commissioned by Nottingham Playhouse where it premiered last May to glowing reviews, it must, of necessity, make its mark in the capital. As another blazing new hit from the sensationally successful James Graham and as a fine-tuned production from director Adam Penford (also artistic director of the Nottingham Playhouse), it fixes on a true local story and packages it impeccably.
The tale tells of one Jacob Dunne who — on a relatively routine delinquent night out — threw a punch at a young trainee paramedic, accidentally causing his death. What seems to result in devastation for all, finds new and unexpected hope for Jacob and the dead man’s parents as they pick themselves up, cross the divide and commune with one another.
Similar stories
MARY CONWAY applauds the revival of a tense, and extremely funny, study of men, money and playing cards
MARY CONWAY applauds the study of a dysfunctional family set in an Ireland that could be anywhere
MARY CONWAY applauds a worthy revival of the US 1939 classic drama that studies the dehumanising consequences of affluence
PETER MASON is moved by a striking production of Noel Streatfeild’s enduringly popular children’s book