Alec Boaden on starring in James Graham's 'Punch'

Rising star Alec Boaden stars in James Graham's new play about the real-life, one-punch crime that killed trainee paramedic James Hodgkinson.

James Graham’s play Punch is based on the tragic real-life story of a 2011 altercation in which teenager Jacob Dunne delivered a single blow that killed trainee paramedic James Hodgkinson. Following its sold-out run at Nottingham Playhouse, the play has just transferred to the Young Vic.

His first job after leaving drama school, Alec Boaden says the play “ticks boxes I didn’t even know existed” and that he “hit the jackpot” with director Adam Penfold: “He’s a lovely person and adapts his methods to suit the actor he’s talking to.”

Boaden talks to London Theatre Magazine about working with acclaimed playwright James Graham and the cathartic power of theatre.

Tell us a bit about your role in the play... I’ve got about 14 parts, but Raf’s my main guy and he fits like a glove. He’s the devil on Jacob’s shoulder, constantly pulling him back into that criminal world. He represents the NON moral high ground! Raf is basically all of my friends put into one person.

Is there a greater sense of responsibility when you’re portraying a real-life story? It didn’t really settle until we Zoomed the parents of the victim, Joan and David. The most horrible, scary, icky day was when they came in to watch the performance and the room was just charged. We’re on stage, saying: “Did you hit him hard enough?” and “What are you doing on the floor – get up!” and his parents are there re-living it. It’s a quiet room and all you can hear is the dad crying – you expect the mum to cry but hearing the dad cry, it cuts different. But it got to the point that Joan was bringing all her friends to the shows and I think she found it cathartic. I can’t speak for her, but I could see that a weight was being lifted.

What’s it like working with James Graham? When I was coming to meet him, my mate was saying: “Alec, you know he’s our last great writer? He’s a big big dog!” So, when I met him, I was walking round him like he was a god. But he’s amazing – he’s a real Nottingham lad and, on top of being a genuinely nice person, he’s now my mate.

What makes Punch such a powerful play? Emotionally, it takes a bit to touch me. I’m not a crier really – I wanna be, but it’s not in my system. But the thing I’ve learnt on this job is that it’s not just about what happens on stage, it’s what happens after. We had people in the audience who run prisons – one night we had 20 nurses come and one of them was there when James [Hodgkinson] was brought in. The play’s had a big impact on me and I know now that theatre changes people.

Book Punch tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Photo credit: Alex Boaden, inset, Shalisha James-Davis, David Shields, and Boaden in Punch. (Photo by Marc Brenner)

This article first appeared in the March 2025 issue of London Theatre Magazine.