EXCLUSIVE: Punch, the acclaimed new play by the Olivier Award successful James Graham, will open on Broadway this fall as a part of the Manhattan Theatre Membership‘s 2025-2026 season.
The play, based mostly on the non-fiction ebook Proper from Fallacious by Jacob Dunne about a youngster’s deadly act of random violence and his path towards forgiveness, opened to rave critiques when it premiered final 12 months at Nottingham Playhouse. It not too long ago transferred to London’s The Younger Vic.
Adam Penford, who directed within the UK, will direct MTC’s manufacturing, which will likely be offered in affiliation with Nottingham Playhouse the place Penford serves as Inventive Director. Graham’s Ink was offered at MTC in 2019 and acquired six Tony Award nominations together with Greatest Play.
MTC additionally introduced right this moment that its Off Broadway 2025-2026 season will embrace the world premiere of Ngozi Anyanwu’s The Monsters, a co-production with Two River Theater. Anyanwu directs for a winter 2026 manufacturing.
The Monsters is about two siblings, LIL and BIG, who reunite after a very long time aside and should wrestle with their pasts. Nigerian-born actress, playwright and director Anyanwu gained popularity of her works Good Grief, The Homecoming Queen, and The Final of the Love Letters.
“All of us at Manhattan Theatre Membership are thrilled to welcome the good James Graham again to the Friedman Theatre, the place our manufacturing of his play Ink acquired nice acclaim in 2019,” stated inventive director Lynne Meadow. “James’ improbable new play Punch will likely be helmed by British director Adam Penford, who will make his Broadway and American lead directing debut with the present. At Metropolis Heart, we’re delighted to associate with Two River Theater to supply the world premiere of Ngozi Anyanwu’s The Monsters. We’ve been followers of Ngozi’s work for a while and are excited to convey her to MTC.”
Whereas Punch will likely be Penford’s Broadway lead director, he was the Affiliate Director for One Man, Two Guvnors on Broadway.
Further productions for MTC’s 2025-26 season will likely be introduced quickly.
The official synopsis for Punch: “Teenage Jacob spends his days tearing via Nottingham in a whirlwind of medication, women, and bar fights — however when he makes a deadly mistake, his life modifications without end. As he copes with the implications of his actions and strives to construct a brand new life, he finds a robust however precarious supply of redemption: the dad and mom of the boy he killed.”
The official synopsis for The Monsters: “For a very long time, LIL has been obsessive about preventing, and one fighter specifically: her older brother BIG, an getting old however profitable determine within the native Blended Martial Arts circuit. However she’s been doing all of it from afar… till at some point when she decides to point out up on his doorstep…The Monsters is a sibling love story about reunions, resentment, reconnection, and wrestling with demons.”
