Punch’s David Shields on restorative justice, James Graham and forgiveness

Based on James Dunne’s memoir Right From Wrong, Punch depicts the true story of a teenager whose life unravels after a night out in Nottingham. Dunne, who grew up on a notorious council estate, killed 28-year-old trainee paramedic James Hodgkinson, following his fall into gang culture and subsequent, drug-fuelled fighting on nights out. One fatal punch on a particular night in Nottingham frames the entire story.

Written by Olivier Award-winning playwright James Graham of Dear England and Sherwood fame, and directed by Adam Penford, Punch, which is now showing at the Young Vic following a sold-out run in Nottingham, is a depiction and study of masculinity among men in Britain. Violence and reputation shape the narrative, and it’s being heralded as a masterpiece that is igniting essential conversations.

With a small cast including Julie Hesmondhalgh, Alec Boaden, Tony Hirst, Shalisha James-Davis, Emma Pallant and David Shields, it dramatically portrays the reality of Dunne trying to turn his life around following that fatal night.

Shields, who starred alongside Austin Butler and Callum Turner in Masters of the Air, takes on the role of the protagonist Dunne. It’s no mean feat, but one that the young actor does with the assumed skills of a man who has spent a lifetime on stage, building up for a nuanced role like this in which we as the audience aren’t supposed to like or dislike him. Punch is, however, actually one of Shields’ first big stage experiences. “This is only my third professional theatre show,” the actor told me over a Zoom call the morning after another one of the sold out shows. “I've mainly done television and film, and I did a play in a London Underground station, a small play above a pub, and then I was cast in this. This is obviously a huge step up. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever done, and it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I'm with so many people that are so experienced in theater that I've managed to lean on them whenever I've needed you know.”

Joining Punch, despite its hard-hitting content and the work at hand, was a no-brainer for Shields, who had long admired the work of Graham. “The fact it's a James Graham play is a big thing,” Shields says. “He's one of our top guys right now, and he's our state-of-the-nation playwright as people like to call him. It’s definitely a state-of-the-nation play, and it touches on so many important things.”

Initially Shields didn’t think he had got the role. “I went for a meeting in London and I met with Adam Penford and we just read this single scene which is the first scene for the play,” he shares. “He's brash, all swagger and cockiness and I totally thought I'd screwed it up.”

Once he got a call up for a Zoom with Graham, he began to take in that he’d got the role. Shields naturally felt it was important to nail the character, and he threw himself into preparation for the role. The actual Jacob Dunne became a big part of the rehearsal process. “Jacob was there, right from the beginning of rehearsals,and I was able to lean on him and study his mannerisms, in terms of his physicality,” Shields shares, “But also to ask those questions, and to fill in the gaps of of what I didn't know, and what I thought I needed to know.” He also spent a little time in Nottingham, retracing Dunne’s footsteps. “I went up to Nottingham before we started and I walked around the streets where Jacob grew up and I drank in the pubs which are mentioned in the play. I just wanted to have a reference in my mind to all of these places because part of what the play is about is identity and Nottingham. Even though the play could speak to people from any kind of small town or city with youth, it is also rooted in the culture of the place in which it's set.”

For Shields, the context isn’t one he is personally too familiar with, but he understands that it is common. “When I was Jacob's age at the time of the event, there was a lot of going out and quite reckless behaviour,” he says. “It has given me pause for thought. I've never been one for getting into fights, but there were cases of people pushing and shoving, where punches could have been thrown. So many people don't take into account that it's often how people fall that causes the damage. I’m hopeful that we’re getting out a message, especially to young men, of just how dangerous throwing a punch is and how much you're risking someone else's life as well as your own.”

While Punch is ultimately Dunne’s story, what the play does so well is also present the emotional distress of those involved, whether it’s the parents of Hodgkinson or Dunne’s mother. The final scene is the crescendo of the play, and sees Hodgkinson’s parents meet up with Dunne, as part of a restorative justice plan. This enables victims to meet or communicate with their offender to explain the real impact of the crime. “It really highlights the power of restorative justice, and, while I don’t want to ruin anything, there is the story of forgiveness. But I think what this play expresses is that forgiveness isn't a kind of lofty sort of thing. It has teeth and it’s hard.”

The crux of the story is driven by the real-life actions of Joan, Hodgkinson’s mum, who through restorative justice seeks to meet with Dunne and help him with his own redemption, as well as her own healing. “That's the remarkable thing about the story,” Shields explains. “Joan was the one who pushed for it. Her and David are the heroes in my mind and kind of examples to us all the huge power of the human heart.” Shields is hopeful that the play resonates with audiences. “I suppose there’s a moral question throughout - what would you do in their position and could you do that? I've never watched or been in a production that seems to garner the reaction that this one does in terms of that emotional response. You can sense that on stage.”

As likely with the majority of people who will see Punch, Shields wasn’t aware that restorative justice was an actuality. “I've never even heard of it,” he says. “And that's what I think was quite amazing about the play - it educated me. I think 94 per cent of victim’s families haven't heard of it either. So that’s a part of what we're trying to do. We just want to get the message out that this thing exists and that it should be funded. It could massively, I think, help reduce harm in our society.”

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