Punk Rock is a play by the British playwright Simon Stephens which premiered at the Royal Exchange in Manchester, England, in 2009 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.

Plot 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 MatjaszOliver PriceJesús Lavi / Víctor de la FuenteShauwn KeilMaël GallandBen Walter Bennett Francis Henry Lloyd-Hughes Edward Franklin Christopher Harris Jordan Mooney Graeme McRae Bevan Pfeiffer Samy Khalil Will Pullen Taylor Barrett Stefan CollinsNicholas LepageJuan FrendsaMila FatiRomain TarnaudKarl Richmond Chadwick Meade Harry McEntire Mike Nobel John Clark Ryan Dulieu Gabriel Dean Fancourt Dacre Montgomery-Harvey Álvaro Quintana Noah Robbins Hamish Annan Lewis NortonPatrick ParkFernando Sainz de la MazaKasey BengeCharles Peccia GallettoLaurence Boxhall Lilly Cahill Jessica Raine Laura Pyper Leah Carroll Sarah Graham Darcie Irwin-Simpson Jessica Paterson María Romero Colby Minifie Ripeka Templeton Jane HoganRebecca BauerCristina GallegoMolly WeaverClara Courty ZancaZoe 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 HarveyCristina Bertol / Ana EscriuAlexandra TaylorManon NobiliRuby Duncan Nicholas Chatman Nicholas Banks Nicholas Banks Kemario Ellington George Mason Owen Little Luke Fewster Alejandro Chaparro Pico Alexander Andrew Coshan Elliot GardnerRyan DohertyAxel Novo / Jota HayaMaia Diamond (Nichola Chatman)Marc DervilleFlynn Smeaton Tanya Gleason Katie West Katie West Rebecca Ormrod Elizabeth McMenamin Rebecca Martin Harriet Gordon-Anderson Helena Mocejón Annie Funke Lana Walters Josie WebsterVictoria HallKatia BorladoAshleigh LowJehanne PollossonAnnie 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 A production of the play was done at the Oxford Playhouse. The New Zealand premiere was performed by The Outfit Theatre Company at The Basement Theatre in Auckland from 27 March to 7 April. 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. 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, 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). 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 The Fortune Theatre (Dunedin, New Zealand) produced this play, opening 27 June 2015, directed by Lara Macgregor. 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. Patalog Theatre Co. 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.".

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, the Crikey blog, The Times 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."

Legacy

Identity Crisis Punk Rock inspired Identity Crisis, a drama and philosophy project, exploring the play's themes with young people in London and Manchester.

Teaching Punk Rock is frequently used in Drama education in sixth form and sometimes at GCSE level in England, as well as a few other places around the world. There have been multiple student productions of the play, some of which the play's author, Simon Stephens, has attended.

References

External links Punk Rock Interactive Site Punk Rock at The Royal Exchange Theatre