Punk Rock (play)
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Lilly Cahill
Bennett Francis
Cissy Franks
Nicholas Chatman
Tanya Gleason
Chadwick Meade
Lucy Francis
Dr Richard Harvey
Royal Exchange Theatre
| Punk Rock | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Simon Stephens |
| Characters | William Carlisle Lilly Cahill Bennett Francis Cissy Franks Nicholas Chatman Tanya Gleason Chadwick Meade Lucy Francis Dr Richard Harvey |
| Date premiered | 2009 Royal Exchange Theatre |
| Place premiered | England |
| Original language | English |
Punk Rock is a play by the British playwright Simon Stephens which premiered at the Royal Exchange in Manchester, England, in 2009[1] and transferred to the Lyric Hammersmith directed by Sarah Frankcom. The play concerns a group of private school sixth formers during their A Level mocks exams.[2]
In the library of a grammar school, eight sixth-formers are preparing for their mock-A Levels and nearing the end of their school lives. There are various sub-plots detailing the various love lines or triangles that emerge through the play.
Characters
| Character | Original Cast, 2009 | Revival Cast, 2010 | Welsh Cast, 2012 | New Zealand Cast, 2012 | Australian Cast, 2012 | Australian Cast, 2014 | Spanish Cast, 2014 | New York Cast, 2014 | New Zealand Cast, 2015 | Edinburgh Cast, 2015 | Montreal Cast, 2016 | Spanish National Tour Cast, 2017 | New Zealand Cast, 2017 | French Cast, 2019 | Australian Cast, 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| William Carlisle | Tom Sturridge | Rupert Simonian | Samuel Harris | Nathan Mudge | Sam O'Sullivan | Andrew Creer | Víctor de la Fuente | Douglas Smith | Jared Kirkwood | Oliver Matjasz | Oliver Price | Jesús Lavi / Víctor de la Fuente | Shauwn Keil | Maël Galland | Ben Walter |
| Bennett Francis | Henry Lloyd-Hughes | Edward Franklin | Christopher Harris | Jordan Mooney | Graeme McRae | Bevan Pfeiffer | Samy Khalil | Will Pullen | Taylor Barrett | Stefan Collins | Nicholas Lepage | Juan Frendsa | Mila Fati | Romain Tarnaud | Karl Richmond |
| Chadwick Meade | Harry McEntire | Mike Nobel | John Clark | Ryan Dulieu | Gabriel Dean Fancourt | Dacre Montgomery-Harvey | Álvaro Quintana | Noah Robbins | Hamish Annan | Lewis Norton | Patrick Park | Fernando Sainz de la Maza | Kasey Benge | Charles Peccia Galletto | Laurence Boxhall |
| Lilly Cahill | Jessica Raine | Laura Pyper | Leah Carroll | Sarah Graham | Darcie Irwin-Simpson | Jessica Paterson | María Romero | Colby Minifie | Ripeka Templeton | Jane Hogan | Rebecca Bauer | Cristina Gallego | Molly Weaver | Clara Courty Zanca | Zoe Hawkins |
| Cissy Franks | Sophie Wu | Ruth Milne | Jeni Lloyd | Morgan Albrecht | Madeleine Jones | Stephanie Panozzo | Carolina Yuste | Lilly Englert | Ailis Oliver-Kerby | Debbie Ashley | Madeline Harvey | Cristina Bertol / Ana Escriu | Alexandra Taylor | Manon Nobili | Ruby Duncan |
| Nicholas Chatman | Nicholas Banks | Nicholas Banks | Kemario Ellington | George Mason | Owen Little | Luke Fewster | Alejandro Chaparro | Pico Alexander | Andrew Coshan | Elliot Gardner | Ryan Doherty | Axel Novo / Jota Haya | Maia Diamond
(Nichola Chatman) |
Marc Derville | Flynn Smeaton |
| Tanya Gleason | Katie West | Katie West | Rebecca Ormrod | Elizabeth McMenamin | Rebecca Martin | Harriet Gordon-Anderson | Helena Mocejón | Annie Funke | Lana Walters | Josie Webster | Victoria Hall | Katia Borlado | Ashleigh Low | Jehanne Pollosson | Annie Shapero |
| Lucy Francis | Emma Warbuton | Juliet York | Emily Dyble | Rosie Hayden / Caitlin Roscherr / Jaimee McCann | Clementine Mills | Elle Harris | - | Sophie Shapiro | Sinead Fitzgerald | Claire Elkins | Annabella Papaioannou/Megan Roche | - | Aishani Pole | - | Natalia Saavedra-Ingram & Pippa Asome |
| Dr Richard Harvey | Simon Wolfe | Simon Wolfe | Liz Tustin (Dr Rachel Harvey) | Devlin Bishop | Paul Hooper | David J Rose | Ariadna Gil, Chani Martín, Eugenio Villota | David Greenspan | Ross Johnston | Chris Green | Saro Saroyan | Tana Payno | Annie Ruth (Dr Judith Harvey) | - | Jessica Clarke |
Other productions
- The Australian premiere was on 27 July 2012 performed by pantsguys Productions in association with the Australian Theatre for Young People[3]
- A production of the play was done at the Oxford Playhouse.[4]
- The New Zealand premiere was performed by The Outfit Theatre Company at The Basement Theatre in Auckland from 27 March to 7 April.[5]
- The Welsh premiere of the play was performed at the Arad Goch theatre in Aberystwyth on 18 and 19 May 2012, directed by Rhodri Brady.[6]
- The play made its New York premiere on 29 October 2014 in an MCC Theater production at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. The production was selected as a New York Times Critic's Pick,[7] and earned Lucille Lortel Award nominations for Will Pullen (Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play, for his turn as Bennett Francis) and Japhy Weideman (Outstanding Lighting Design).[8]
- The play made its Edinburgh Fringe return on 24 August 2015 by Theatre Company 'The Pigeon Collective'. The production received a five star review from 'Broadway Baby' and made it into the Top Rated Shows of 2015 at Edinburgh Fringe Punk Rock by Simon Stephens: 5 star review by Bennett Bonci[9]
- The Fortune Theatre (Dunedin, New Zealand) produced this play, opening 27 June 2015, directed by Lara Macgregor.[10]
- The French company Summer Lemonade produced punk rock at Avignon festival in 2019, directed by Marc Derville. It was the first time a Simon Stephens play was produced in Avignon.[11]
- Patalog Theatre Co.[12] premiered the play in Melbourne for the first time professionally at fortyfivedownstairs in December 2019. The play received wide critical acclaim with critics calling it "A masterful re-working. Unmissable.".[13]
Reception
The premiere received generally positive reviews with Variety saying "confirms Simon Stephens as one of the most important and exciting British playwrights working today". The play was nominated for the 2010 TMA Best New Play award. It was also well received by The Guardian,[14] the Crikey blog,[15] The Times[16] and others.
Some critics have criticised Stephens for unoriginality, however. For example, Leo Benedictus, writing for The Guardian in 2009, said "The critics spot various possible influences such as The History Boys, Another Country, Lord of the Flies, Elephant, If…, Skins, and The Catcher in the Rye."[14]