Learn all about these gripping true crime theatre shows

From plays Manhunt and Punch to musical London Road, these extraordinary productions all have a basis in real life.

Sometimes drama is at its most compelling, and affecting, when it’s based closely on real life – even the scary parts. That's evidenced by the popularity of TV series like Netflix's Adolescence, true crime podcasts, and shows in and beyond the West End.

Theatre isn’t afraid to go to dark places too as it confronts the big challenges and tragedies in our society. Playwright James Graham — our leading chronicler of modern history — explores a young man committing a horrific act in Punch, upcoming premiere Manhunt revisits the extraordinary hunt for Raoul Moat, and @sohoplace's Kyoto turns a political battle into a riveting thriller..

Get to know more about theatre exploring true crime stories ahead of your next trip.

Manhunt, Royal Court

In 2010 Raoul Moat, a former bodybuilder with severe anger management problems, was convicted of assaulting a 9-year-old relative, later released from Durham Prison, and hunted down his ex-girlfriend, whom he injured, and her new partner, whom he shot dead.

There followed an extraordinary few days: one of the biggest manhunts in UK history, involving another shooting — that of Police Constable David Rathband — as Moat stayed on the run while taunting the authorities. The chase involved 160 armed officers, sniper teams, helicopters, dogs, an RAF jet, tracker Ray Mears, and even former England footballer Paul Gascoigne.

The story has been chronicled in an ITV series, The Hunt for Raoul Moat, and now it’s coming to the stage in a world-premiere drama written and directed by the Olivier Award-winning Robert Icke (Oedipus, Player Kings).

Samuel Edward-Cook (who played Hotspur in Player Kings) stars as Moat alongside Danny Kirrane, Trevor Fox, Nicolas Tennant, Leo James, Angela Lonsdale, Patricia Jones, and Sally Messham. Icke has said that he’s interested in exploring “a lost little boy kind of masculinity”.

Book Manhunt tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

Punch, Young Vic

In summer 2011, a single punch thrown outside a Nottingham pub changed Jacob Dunne’s life forever. The 19-year-old often got into fights with his friends, but this was different: trainee paramedic James Hodgkinson, the man he had struck, didn’t get back up.

That tragedy is the basis for James Graham’s moving play Punch, which premiered at Nottingham Playhouse last year and is now at the Young Vic. He rewinds to show us Jacob’s early life, growing up on a rough council estate, and how he became ensared by gang culture (the play is partly inspired by Jacob’s memoir Right From Wrong).

But Punch is also a wonderfully moving tale about the power of restorative justice. As happened in real life, Jacob has a meeting with James’s grieving parents — a cathartic if wrenching experience for all three as they search for answers and some kind of peace.

Graham uses this real-life story to ask bigger questions about social inequality, male violence, lack of mental health provision, and what punishment and justice should look like. No wonder this powerful piece is heading to Broadway later this year.

Book Punch tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

London Road, National Theatre

Sometimes theatre can approach a difficult real-life subject in an unexpectedly soul-stirring way. That is the case with musical London Road, first seen at the National Theatre in 2011, directed by Rufus Norris. The show returns this summer as part of Norris’s final season as the venue’s artistic director.

The groundbreaking show centres on serial killer Steve Wright (aka the Suffolk Strangler) who murdered five female sex workers in Ipswich in 2006. More accurately, it looks at the ripple effects of his crimes on the surrounding community. Wright and his victims are not characters; we get to know the local residents, sex workers, and members of the media as they try to make sense of what happened and rebuild their lives.

London Road feels like watching a documentary as much as a musical since the text is verbatim, recorded by pioneering writer Alecky Blythe. She collaborated with composer Adam Cork on a show that remarkably captures the natural rhythms of people’s speech, placing us right in the neighbourhood with them.

The result is a hypnotic, raw, transcendent piece. It was turned into a movie in 2015, starring Olivia Colman and Tom Hardy, and had another brief run at the National Theatre in 2012, but this much-anticipated revival marks the return of a modern classic.

Book London Road tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

Photo credit: Marc Brenner, Helen Warner