Victoria Clark Explores Compassion and Complicated Emotions in Broadway's Punch

Victoria Clark doesn't do anything halfway. So when the two-time Tony winner was cast in Punch on Broadway, a play based on the book Right From Wrong by Jacob Dunne, she immediately booked a ticket to Nottingham, England, where the true story took place. "If I can get my feet on the ground of a place that's not based in the U.S., I go," she told Tamsen Fadal on The Broadway Show of her process. "It was important for me to see Nottingham. I wanted to feel it for myself."

In Nottingham, Clark spent hours with Dunne, visiting the actual locations that appear in the play, written by James Graham and directed by Adam Penford. The work explores the aftermath of the punch that gives the story its title. It's "about his journey from taking responsibility for what he did, to his advocacy work now for restorative justice," Clark explained. "One of the great things about the play is that the reason he's able to make that turn is that the parents of the young man who he killed approach him."

That act of courage and compassion is the catalyst both onstage and in Dunne’s life. Clark plays Joan, the mother of James, the victim. She met the real-life Joan and David, James’ parents, who gave their blessing to the production.

Clark sees Punch as the kind of pivotal work that got her into the career. "I've been in this business a long time, and these are the projects that actors wait for because they're so dynamic and compelling," Clark said. "I'm looking for projects all the time that are talking about forgiveness and grace and compassion. And not just those projects, but about complicated human situations, because we live in complicated times."

When Punch came her way, Clark had an immediate and emotional reaction. "I was reading the script and I wept through the whole thing, because of the compassion that these people show and the leaps and bounds that Jacob makes as an individual, finding his feet in the world." Will Harrison portrays Dunne in his Broadway debut, and Clark calls his performance "absolutely astonishing."

Clark herself is impressive, balancing acting roles like this one with directing and teaching private classes. When asked about the differences between acting onstage and directing actors, she said: "It's like turning around and seeing your life through a slightly different lens." That ease with shifting perspective may be what makes her the ideal person to play Joan. The play leaves audiences with a compelling question, as Clark put it: "If it were you, what would you do?"

Watch the video below.