Punch and Judy

[bendk]

I have seen quite a few puppets from the play PUNCH AND JUDY posted in the gallery section. This is one of my favorite plays, right up there with WAITING FOR GODOT. This play has everything you could want in a children's play: infanticide, spousal abuse culminating in murder by blunt force trauma (big stick), an execution, the undead (a ghost and skeleton) and even a battle to the death with the Devil. And I didn't even mention the half of it. Basically, Punch kills his wife and child and then refuses any attempts at justice imposed by this world or the next. He merrily murders anyone that gets in his way; all of them perpetrated with the utmost glee and humor. The only thing this play denies its audience is 'the moment of consummate disaster.' But perhaps this scene has been written by some creative puppet master that I am unaware of. One of great things about this play is that it is not cast in stone. Certain scenes are standard, but there is much room left for interpretation. This play is hundreds of years old and has been performed an untold number of ways.

In Henry Mayhew's famous sociological study, LONDON LABOR AND THE LONDON POOR, conducted on the streets of London in the mid 19th century, a punchman recounts an interesting phenomenon: Often preachers would set up opposite of punch shows and gather a completely different kind of audience - the God-fearing and pious. This play is an attack on the solemnity with which some approach the world. Ironically, despite its violence and death, it is not in the least bit morbid. One of my favorite scenes is:

Punch has just been attacked and a doctor is called. When he arrives on the scene, Punch is lying on the ground, apparently lifeless.

Doctor: Are you dead Mr. Punch?
Punch: Yes

Does dialogue get any better than that?
I think not.


Given TL's interest in puppets, I'm sure he is familiar with this famous play; although, I can't recall if he ever mentioned it in any of his stories.

Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean produced an excellent graphic novel based on and around the play. It is called: THE TRAGICAL COMEDY OR COMICAL TRAGEDY OF MR. PUNCH.

If you haven't read the play, give it a shot. It is a rewarding experience getting to know Mr. Punch.

'With a bump on his nose and a hump on his back and a big stick to give you a whack!'


P.S.
Dr. Bantham,
Give that crocodile puppet some sausages. He looks hungry.