While I vaguely remember hearing of people being killed by a single punch, I had no idea until recently that "one punch assaults and deaths" was actually a recognised category of event in the police lexicography. But now we have had two very different plays about the issue, both based on real events, within a year of one another.
James Graham's Punch, which premièred last May at Nottingham Playhouse and transfers to the Young Vic in London next month, was told from the point of view of the perpetrator, who served 30 months in prison for manslaughter, following which his life was only put back on track after meeting the parents of his victim through a restorative justice charity. Jane Thornton and Martha Godber's script was created in collaboration with the parents of Scott Akester, whose killer is still serving 7½ years for manslaughter and has not been in touch with them since their son died.
While this play was written by his wife and daughter, this looks from the start like it could be a play from the 1980s by the writer after whom the Hull-based theatre company is named, but rather than bouncers or school kids or rugby players, the three multiple role-playing actors are dressed as paramedics throughout, delivering much of the script directly to the audience as narration from a set by Graham Kirk that looks like a boxing ring made from police tape with beer crates as seats.
The writers have chosen to approach a play about something that took just a second by reporting the events of the day chronologically. Corey (Ellis Basford), the fictionalised version of Scott Akester, is celebrating his birthday; he is meeting his best mate Connor (George Reid) after work, but promises his wife Ashley (Camille Hainsworth-Staples) that it will only be for a couple of drinks and he will pick their daughter up from his mum and dad (also Reid and Hainsworth-Staples) on his way home. But Connor, single and with no responsibilities, doesn't understand why they can't have a proper night out like they always used to—and Corey is weak-willed and easily persuaded (though we've all been there).
They stay out, counting their drinks out loud (exactly like in Bouncers), with Corey repeatedly saying he needs to get home but then agreeing to stay for "just one more". Then Connor, drunkenly offended by his friend not appreciating the night out he has planned for him, throws the One Punch of the title. Corey goes down and hits his head, and Connor panics and runs. While he does get a monologue to tell us how he is feeling at that moment, most of the rest of the play is about his parents: getting the call, visiting their son in intensive care, talking about their feelings and saying goodbye.
This has the feeling of a theatre-in-education piece that seeks to tutor the audience about its subject, with performance styles that have become common in TIE and classroom drama such as 'multi-roleing' and techniques from physical theatre such as rhythmic representations of working at machines and moments of choreographed rather than realistic movement. The language begins lyrical with some hints of rhyming, but later goes into more obvious rhyming verse for the narration.
If this was an entirely fictional story, I would say that the storytelling was rather conventional and simplistic and there was nothing particularly innovative about the staging, but this is theatre with a purpose, with an important message to deliver, which it does repeatedly and strongly with very effective performances from this young cast. As an educational piece, it could perhaps benefit from a bit of trimming here and there but should prove effective if it can be seen more widely by people who could find themselves in such a situation—which would be mainly, though not exclusively, young men.
On the first night at HOME, Steve and Debbie Akester took to the stage with the cast and writers following the performance to answer questions from the audience about their son and about the charity that they have set up, One Punch Hull, to educate people about the risks of throwing One Punch with the slogan, "Stop-Think-Walk Away". Steve said he plans to get in touch with his son's killer, whom they had known for 18 years before this, when he gets out of prison. That could make for a very interesting drama, though perhaps one closer to the James Graham play.