The 1940s WW2 Punch Show
Introduction to the WW2 - 1940s Show
The Second World War saw the home front adapt to many things. Punch & Judy Men, those not serving or who were on fire warden duty anyway, did likewise.
They dressed their puppets in army uniforms and presented the age-old tale in the usual way. This inspired me to reproduce the puppets but to present the show in an entirely new way. Punch and Judy is a very adaptable medium and provided the staging is correct, it will blend into any environment into which it is placed. Conversely, the right show can be a stand-out too!
While certain characters and plot lines are needed to make the puppet-play familiar, provided the sketches, jokes, topical references resonate and there is plenty of audience participation, then the performance will always be successful.
Hand puppets are good at handling props (that is why Mr. Punch has a slap-stick). Hand puppets, at least in so far as performing a Punch and Judy Show is concerned, do a number of things incredibly well.
They can dance, to the appropriate music.
They can throw things to (or at!) one another.
They can slide or slither along the theatre’s stage.
They can hide behind the drapes (curtains).
Things can easily transform from one thing into another.
They can tell jokes.
They can fight like a pair of heavy-weight boxers.
It is with this in mind, that a suitably camouflaged theatre has been built and the characters of a 1940s Punch and Judy Show assembled.
All puppets are of professional size and quality. The only modern aspect of the presentation is the sound system. A joke that goes unheard, is no joke at all!
Today's 1940s Show
Punch encounters a ‘danger UXB’ with unexpected consequences, the characters are deprived, by a U-Boat with suspiciously large teeth, of their wooden sausages (well, there is a war on) and the baby is deemed unusually ugly, until Judy points out ‘that he does have his gas mask on’! Churchill provides encouragement and as comically as we can make it, the villain Hitler is on hand to receive his boos. We have a hilarious sentry guard routine, with a fifth columnists attempting to steal a march on Private Punch and the char-lady (from the NAFFI) looks suspiciously like Judy.
The Booth, a more sombre affair, is festooned in camouflage netting. It would sit well alongside period costumes and activities or equally well, on a platform at the end-of-the line – which funnily enough is what happens to (and as comically as we can make it) the villain Hitler.
Anything is possible in this show, for though the Wartime Regulations imposed a number of restrictions, these representations could and often do, get away with murder!
A unique experience, one that will grace your special event.