James Graham's Olivier-winning Punch now tours the UK and Ireland until 24 April 2027, with five new venues added, among them Glasgow and the play's first dates in Dublin.
Five more stops have joined the 2027 tour of Punch, adding five weeks to the run. After Leicester it now plays BEAM Hertford, CITZ in Glasgow, the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin, the Arts Theatre Cambridge and the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry, where it closes on 24 April.
The tour opens at Nottingham Playhouse on 25 January, back where the play started in 2024. The dates announced earlier take it on to Bath, Birmingham, Chichester, Malvern, Blackpool and Leicester. Casting is still to be announced.
Adapted by James Graham from Jacob Dunne's book Right from Wrong, the play is Dunne's own story. As a teenager in Nottingham he threw one punch on a night out, and James Hodgkinson died. Years later, after Dunne had served his sentence, Hodgkinson's parents, Joan and David, asked to meet him, and that meeting changed the course of his life.
Nottingham Playhouse artistic director Adam Penford directs, with Anna Fleischle as production designer, Robbie Butler on lighting, Alexandra Faye Braithwaite as sound designer and composer, Leanne Pinder as movement director and Christopher Worrall CDG casting.
Penford said: "We're delighted that more audiences across the UK will have the opportunity to see Punch in 2027 and for it to premiere in Ireland. It's a story of hope, forgiveness and human connection, and we've seen from its incredible reception in the West End and on Broadway that it has the same powerful impact, wherever it goes. The UK and Ireland tour also means more opportunities for community engagement work around Punch, ensuring that the play can continue to support the campaigning work of the real-life people whose story we're telling, at a local level."
From Nottingham the production moved to the Young Vic in March 2025, then to the Apollo Theatre in the West End and on to Broadway. It was named Best New Play at the 2026 Olivier Awards, where Julie Hesmondhalgh also won Best Actress in a Supporting Role, and it took Best New Play at the Critics' Circle Awards and Best Play at The Standard Awards. This month it added the Theatre Prize at the Sky Arts Awards, as we reported.
The full 2027 tour, with the new venues marked:
- 25 January - 6 February: Nottingham Playhouse, Nottingham
- 9-13 February: Bath Theatre Royal, Bath
- 16-20 February: Birmingham Rep, Birmingham
- 23-27 February: Chichester Festival Theatre, Chichester
- 2-6 March: Malvern Theatres, Malvern
- 9-13 March: Blackpool Grand Theatre, Blackpool
- 16-20 March: Curve, Leicester
- 23-27 March: BEAM Hertford, Hertford (new)
- 30 March - 3 April: CITZ, Glasgow (new)
- 6-10 April: The Gaiety Theatre, Dublin (new)
- 13-17 April: The Arts Theatre Cambridge, Cambridge (new)
- 20-24 April: The Belgrade Theatre, Coventry (new)
The production is dedicated to James Hodgkinson and to all victims of one-punch assaults.
For more information, visit the official website.
