A Short History of Mr Punch
The
Character of
Mr Punch is descended from the Italian clown
Pulcinella who featured in the Commedia Dell' Arte medieval tradition
of the 15th Century. Players toured Europe and Samuel Pepys recalls
seeing such a troupe
in Covent Garden in 1662 during the festivities surrounding the wedding
of Charles II. This date is considered 'Punch's Birthday' and Mr Punch
first become popular in London under the name Punchinello before it was
shortened to the Mr Punch we know today.
This new irreverent wooden
star was taken up by British puppeteers for his moral story could be
used to comment on the politics of the day and so he traveled around
the country for the next century. 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.
This transformation from an adult morality play with plenty of contemporary social comment and satire to the colourful knockabout 'Punch and Judy Show' we know today performed using Glove Puppets was brought about as Punch absorbed the comedy of the Slapstick theatrical tradition.
As
performing in towns became more difficult Mr Punch travelled on the
newly arrived railways to the seaside where he entertained the great
British working class as they took their holidays - this is the image
of the seaside Punch and Judy Show which we are most familiar with.
So
the Italian Pulcinella was transformed into childrens entertainment, a
role in which Punch saw out the end of the 19th Century and the entire
20th Century. Mr Punch with his Punch & Judy Show is still going
strong over 300 years later.
"Pinocchio is rewarded for his docility by being turned into a little boy. True comedy makes the child in us want to turn into Mr. Punch" John Kerrigan, English Comedy. Cambridge University Press 1994"
Mr Punch a Medieval Hero in a Victorian Morality Play
Told as a straight morality tale without the comedy and force of Mr Punch's character, Punch and Judy is a grim story, - but that is true of most traditional tales. The joy of Punch and Judy is that children will immediately grasp and loudly tell Mr Punch when he has been 'bad' but will recognise and relate to Mr Punch, as they know themselves how hard it is to always be 'good'. The comedy of Punch and Judy lies in Mr Punch's unrepentant behaviour, boundless energy and disregard for figures of authority as Punch deals with each new situation and his overarching belief that he is really a 'good boy' when we all know Mr Punch is not.
"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of the truth" Albert Einstein
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