WORLD THEATRE TRADITIONS
punch & judy
Punch arrived in England in 1663
from Italy as the marionette
Pulchinello. In the late 1700s the
London puppet theatres closed
and Punch and Judy as we know
it today appeared as a busking
act on the streets of London as a
portable hand-puppet show.
By 1800, he had become a hand
puppet in the little street corner
stages used by travelling puppeteers
and known as Puppet Booths, new
characters were added, he gained a
wife, called Judy, and began taking
on British theatrical traditions.
puppets
The appeal of the Punch and
Judy Show lies in the skill of
the performer: part story
teller, part puppeteer, part
comedian, wholly an
entertainer who had to draw
SHORT DOCUMENTARY
in an audience to watch the
Punch and Judy: The Past
show.
In the Victorian and Edwardian
periods Punch & Judy shows
could be seen in all major cities
across Britain, always topical.
The storylines mocked
politicians and the PODCAST
establishment of the day. The Real Meaning of
Punch & Judy
www.blackbox.education
ESSAY
Contemporary Punch and Judy in
performance: an ethnography of traditional
British glove puppet theatre.
They collected donations from
the public and used topical
jokes, street satire, guest
heroes and villains, musical
interludes, and novelty
specialty acts to try and
attract the largest (paying)
audience possible.