More about Punch and Judy
Punch or more correctly, Punchinello or in Italian Pulcinella, was hook
nosed, humpbacked character (hey, wait a minute, let's not get personal
here!), the most popular of marionettes and glove puppets and the chief
figure in the Punch-and-Judy puppet show. Brutal, vindictive, and deceitful,
he is usually at odds with authority. His character had roots in the Roman
clown and the comic country bumpkin. More modern origins can be traced
to Pulcinella, a character who appeared in the Italian Commedia Dell'Arte
in the 17th century.
It is not certain who was the first Pulcinella, although claims
have been made on behalf of Silvio Fiorillo, a professional comedian who was performing
at the beginning of the 17th century. In early pictorial representations,
he is depicted as large, shambling, and stupid-looking, dressed
in a loose white shirt and very full trousers.
The Italian actors soon began to travel throughout Europe, bringing
with them the puppet showmen. Polichinelle, the French adaptation of the
character Pulcinella, became firmly established in France by the middle
of the 17th century. The origin of the grotesque, humpbacked, and hook
nosed marionette Polichinelle may have resulted from a fusion of the Italian
character Pulcinella with an earlier French tradition of humpbacked fools.
A similar tradition of the humpbacked fool existed in England when the first Italian puppeteers arrived
after the restoration of Charles II in 1660. Two years later,
the first references to Punchinello, soon shortened to Punch,
appeared in the writings of the English diarist Samuel Pepys.
By 1700 practically every puppet show in England featured Punch,
and his wife, Judy, originally called Joan, was also a well-known
figure. Traveling showmen carried these plays to country wakes
(festivals) in the summer and visited London for the fairs in
August and September. Early in the 18th century Punch became
famous in political circles through the use of the name by Martin Powell,
a marionette showman, in a scurrilous attack on Robert Harley
entitled A Second Tale of a Tub (1715).
In the 1790s the marionettes lost their popularity at the fairs.
There was, however, a new interest in the humbler glove puppets,
and in this form the Punch-and-Judy play became a success. Plots
varied, but the principal players were Toby the Dog, the Baby,
the Doctor, the Negro Servant, the Beadle, the Clown, the Hangman,
the Ghost of Judy, Mr. Jones, Hector the Horse, the Crocodile,
and the Devil. The hooked nose, the humped back, the tendency
to wife beating and outrageous lawlessness typical of the English
Punch were established characteristics by the 19th century.
In England in the second half of the 20th century, more than
50 professional puppeteers carried on the vigorous tradition
of Punch's humour. His influence survives in such common phrases
as "pleased as Punch."
In France the puppet Polichinelle had a similar history. His
popularity, however, declined during the 19th and 20th centuries,
and he has disappeared as a comic figure, being replaced by
Guignol.
Other puppets have developed from the same origins as Punch,
such as Petrushka (Petrouchka) in Russia.
Lastly a magazine devoted to political satire and humor was started in the late 1900s and was titled Punch in an attempt to capitalize on the famous puppet. The magazine remained in print for over one hundred years
So how did the show go? See an edited script based on the original that first appeared in Henry Mayhew's London Labour and the London Poor
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The Book of Tobit or Tobias
