A History of Punch & Judy
His-story
In 1660, King Charles II was restored to the English Monarchy. The King, in an early command performance, delighted in the string puppet's antics. Pulcinella interrupted popular marionette shows by making inappropriate noises, satirical jokes, pratfalls and dancing.
The English took this Italian immigrant to their hearts but in so doing, they proved incapable of pronouncing his name correctly, so it was soon shortened to Punch. Lacking in the social graces but still, by virtue of the patronage he enjoyed, politically correct, his popularity grew. Expensive and high-class venues in London, Bath and beyond soon insisted on his appearance.
Mr. Punch ‘acquired’ an English wife called Joan, this was Judy in a similar guise. Both Joan, Punch and Judy shared the same looks and temperament. For 150 years, Mr Punch wheeled his wife around in a wheelbarrow, from one show to the next, and it was opined, by the learned classes, ‘there was no show without Punch’.
But times change and marionette shows, which were inherently expensive to operate due to their requiring a large number of puppeteers, ceased to be economically viable. What to do? It looked like Mr. Punch's number was up.
In 1780, another strolling Italian puppeteer, Giovanni Piccini, created a play using stock character hand-puppets; soldiers, monks, Italian jesters, courtiers, dogs, devils and the landed gentry. All were transformed into officers of the law, doctors, dog owners and the notorious public executioner: Jack Ketch. If the show didn’t resonate, in a fashion similar to today’s demands of political correctness, and continue to mirror society's current hang-ups, then the puppeteer and his family, would go hungry.
It worked, as it still does today. Giovanni’s apprentice’s show, was painted by Benjamin Robert Hayden in 1828 (see the coloured picture shown adjacent) titled: ‘Punch or May Day’ it is on view today, in the Tate Gallery, London.
The Victorians took Mr. Punch, in his blue and white chequered theatre, on their holidays. Down to the beach ‘he’ went: to Swanage, Weymouth, Brighton and Ramsgate. The Roundings, as they are termed, soon reflecting the seaside awnings around him, became the red-and-white-striped theatre we know today. Adopting popular icons has always been Punch’s forte. It keeps the show relevant; Clown Joseph Grimaldi and Peter Pan’s crocodile, all resulted from its capability to reflect the times. Records ‘freeze’ the action, be it in newspaper print, in books, or on canvas. It gives the impression that Punch and Judy hasn’t changed; but it has and it always will. Even more so now, with the availability of hundreds of images the Internet provides. Boasting a ‘his-story’ that can be traced back to The Commedia Dell’Arte, of the 12th Century, Punch must be doing something right. His present – the gift of fun, mayhem and laughter – is ‘freely’ given to today’s appreciative audiences.