Editing Punch and Judy (section)

==History==
[[File:Punch Plaque Covent Garden.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Plaque at [[St Paul's, Covent Garden|St Paul's]] in [[Covent Garden]], London commemorating the first recorded performance of Punch and Judy in 1662]]

The Punch and Judy show has roots in the 17th century Italian [[commedia dell'arte]]. The figure of Punch is derived from the [[Naples|Neapolitan]] stock character of [[Pulcinella]], which was [[anglicized]] to ''Punchinello''.<ref name="eb1911-punch">{{cite EB1911|last=Wheeler|first=R. Mortimer|wstitle=Punch (puppet)|title=Punch|volume=22|pages=648–649}}</ref> He is a variation on the same themes as the [[Lord of Misrule]] and the many [[Trickster]] figures found in mythologies across the world. Punch's wife was originally called "Joan".<ref>{{cite book |title=Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature |date=1996 |page=914}}</ref>

{{Quote|quote=[Pulcinella] went down particularly well with Restoration British audiences, fun-starved after years of [[Puritanism]]. We soon changed Punch's name, transformed him from a marionette to a hand puppet, and he became, really, a spirit of Britain – a subversive maverick who defies authority, a kind of puppet equivalent to our [[political cartoon]]s. |source=Punch and Judy showman Glyn Edwards.<ref name="British seaside">{{cite news|title=Punch and Judy around the world |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatlife/7949781/Punch-and-Judy-around-the-world.html|work=The Telegraph|date=11 June 2015}}</ref>}}

The figure who became the anarchic Mr Punch made his first recorded appearance in England on 9 May 1662, which is traditionally reckoned as Punch's UK birthday.<ref>{{cite news |title=Mr Punch celebrates 350 years of puppet anarchy |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17895716 |access-date=27 January 2025 |publisher=BBC}}</ref> Punch and Judy began to emerge during the [[Stuart Restoration|Restoration Period]] (beginning in 1660),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/thats-the-way-to-do-it-a-history-of-punch-and-judy|title=V&A · That's the Way to Do it! A History of Punch & Judy|website=Victoria and Albert Museum|language=en|access-date=2 February 2020}}</ref> a period during which art and theatre thrived. King Charles II took the throne in 1660 and replaced [[Puritan]] leaders [[Oliver Cromwell]] and [[Richard Cromwell]], and theatre culture was revived. Cromwell strictly adhered to the Puritan belief that theatre was immoral and should be banned, resulting in their [[London theatre closure 1642|closure in 1642]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schoch |first1=Richard |title=Writing the History of the British Stage 1660-1900 |date=2016 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=64}}</ref> The repressive regime also saw street entertainers jailed.<ref name="Langley"/> Charles II's ascension to the throne ended the [[interregnum]], Puritan legislation was declared null and void, and a more tolerant period of art and culture was ushered in.<ref>{{cite news |title=When Christmas carols were banned |url=https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20141219-when-christmas-carols-were-banned |access-date=2 April 2022 |agency=BBC}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=From pandemics to puritans: when theatre shut down through history and how it recovered |url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/long-reads/from-pandemics-to-puritans-when-theatre-shut-down-through-history-and-how-it-recovered |access-date=2 April 2022 |website=The Stage.co.uk}}</ref> William Langley of ''[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]'' writes Punch and Judy "owes much of its original success to the bleak killjoyism of Cromwell's England. Charles II's resumption of the throne in 1660 unleashed a huge public demand for popular entertainment".<ref name="Langley">{{cite news |title=Punch & Judy's puppet regime still rules |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/profiles/2570630/Profile-Punch-and-Judys-puppet-regime-still-rules.html |access-date=5 June 2024 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref> The diarist [[Samuel Pepys]] observed a [[marionette]] show featuring an early version of the Punch character in [[Covent Garden]] in London. It was performed by Italian puppet showman Pietro Gimonde, a.k.a. "Signor Bologna", one of many entertainers from continental Europe who came to England following the restoration.<ref name="History"/> Pepys described the event in his diary as "an Italian puppet play, that is within the rails there, which is very pretty".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1662/05/09/|title=Friday 9th May, 1660|website=www.pepysdiary.com|date=10 May 2005 |access-date=9 January 2020}}</ref> 

In the British Punch and Judy show, Punch speaks in a distinctive squawking voice, produced by a contrivance known as a ''[[swazzle]]'' or ''swatchel'' which the professor holds in his mouth, transmitting his gleeful cackle.<ref>{{cite news |title=SWAZZLE definition and meaning |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/swazzle |access-date=3 June 2024 |work=Collins English Dictionary}}</ref> This gives Punch a vocal quality as though he were speaking through a [[kazoo]]. Joan's name was changed to Judy because "Judy" was easier to enunciate with the swazzle than "Joan".<ref name="History"/> So important is Punch's signature sound that it is a matter of some controversy within Punch and Judy circles as to whether a "non-{{not a typo|swazzled}}" show can be considered a true Punch and Judy Show. Other characters do not use the swazzle, so the Punchman has to switch back and forth while still holding the device in his mouth.

Punch and Judy shows were traditionally marionette shows when they were brought over from Italy, but were later reinvented in the glove puppet style to accommodate the characters' violent movements without the obstruction of marionette strings.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Philpott |first1=A. R. |title=Dictionary of Puppetry |date=1969}}</ref> Glove puppets were often operated by placing the thumb in one arm, the middle, ring, and little fingers in the other arm, and the index finger in the head.

[[File:Benjamin Robert Haydon (1786-1846) - Punch or May Day - N00682 - National Gallery.jpg|thumb|''[[Punch or May Day]]'', 1829 painting by [[Benjamin Robert Haydon]] depicting a street scene in London including a Punch and Judy show]]

In the early 18th century, the puppet theatre starring Punch was at its height, with showman [[Martin Powell (puppetry)|Martin Powell]] attracting sizable crowds at both his ''Punch's Theatre'' at Covent Garden and earlier in provincial [[Bath, Somerset]].<ref name="eb1911-punch"/> Powell has been credited with being "largely responsible for the form taken by the drama of Punch and Judy".<ref name="dnb">{{DNB|wstitle=Powell, Martin|first=Thomas| last=Seccombe|author-link=Thomas Seccombe|volume=46}}</ref> In 1721, a puppet theatre opened in [[Dublin]] that ran for decades. The cross-dressing actress [[Charlotte Charke]] ran the successful but short-lived Punch's Theatre in the Old Tennis Court at [[St. James's]], [[Westminster]], presenting adaptations of [[Shakespeare]] as well as plays by herself, her father [[Colley Cibber]], and her friend [[Henry Fielding]]. Fielding eventually ran his own puppet theatre under the pseudonym Madame de la Nash to avoid the censorship concomitant with the theatre [[Licensing Act 1737]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1ls9DgAAQBAJ&q=henry+fielding+nash+punch&pg=PA343|title=Henry Fielding: A Political Writer|last=Cleary|first=Thomas R.|date=2006-01-01|publisher=Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press|isbn=978-0-88920-858-2|language=en}}</ref>

Punch was extremely popular in [[Paris]] and, by the end of the 18th century, he was also playing in Britain's former American colonies, where [[George Washington]], a fan of the show, bought tickets.<ref name="Langley"/> However, marionette productions were expensive and cumbersome to mount and transport, presented in empty halls, the back rooms of [[tavern]]s, or within large tents at England's yearly agricultural events at [[Bartholomew Fair]] and [[Mayfair]]. In the latter half of the 18th century, marionette companies began to give way to glove-puppet shows, performed from within a narrow, lightweight booth by one puppeteer, usually with an assistant, or "bottler", to gather a crowd and collect money.<ref name="History"/> These shows might travel through country towns or move from corner to corner along busy London streets, giving many performances in a single day. The character of Punch adapted to the new format, going from a stringed comedian who might say outrageous things to a more aggressive glove-puppet who could do outrageous—and often violent—things to the other characters. 

[[File:'Punch and Judy' Show, Weymouth Beach. - geograph.org.uk - 1146108.jpg|thumb|A Punch and Judy show — with the red-and-white-striped puppet booth — at [[Weymouth, Dorset|Weymouth]] Beach, [[Dorset]] on the south coast of England]]

The mobile puppet booth of the late 18th- and early 19th-century Punch and Judy [[Hand puppet|glove-puppet]] show could be easily [[Fit-up|fitted-up]] and was originally covered in checked bed ticking or whatever inexpensive cloth might come to hand. Later Victorian booths were gaudier affairs, particularly those used for Christmas parties and other indoor performances. In the 20th century, however, red-and-white-striped puppet booths became iconic features on the beaches of many English seaside and summer holiday resorts.<ref>{{cite news |title=That's the way to do it: 350 years of Punch and Judy |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/9362272/Thats-the-way-to-do-it-350-years-of-Punch-and-Judy.html |access-date=27 January 2025 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref>

A more substantial change came over time to the show's [[target audience]]. The show was originally intended for adults, but it changed into primarily a children's entertainment in the late Victorian era. Ancient members of the show's cast ceased to be included, such as the [[Devil]] and Punch's mistress "Pretty Polly", when they came to be seen as inappropriate for young audiences.<ref name="History"/>

The story changes, but some phrases remain the same for decades or even centuries. For example, Punch dispatches his foes each in turn and still squeaks his famous catchphrase: "''That's'' the way to do it!"<ref name="350 years" /> The term "pleased as Punch" is derived from Punch and Judy; specifically, Mr Punch's characteristic sense of gleeful self-satisfaction.

Modern British performances of Punch and Judy are no longer exclusively the traditional [[seaside resort|seaside]] children's entertainments which they had become. They can now be seen at carnivals, festivals,<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Pinhorn |first=Maggie |date=26 May 2024 |title=Covent Garden May Fayre & Puppet Festival |url=https://alternativearts.org.uk/events/covent-garden-may-fayre-puppet-festival |access-date=26 May 2024 |website=Alternative Arts |language=en-gb}}</ref> birthday parties, and other celebratory occasions. The association of Punch with the seaside, however, is still very strong, as demonstrated by [[Wisbech]] Town council's annual Wis-BEACH day each summer: "all the seaside favourites are on show, including a donkey, deck chairs, Punch and Judy and fish and chips".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.fenlandcitizen.co.uk/news/video-sun-and-sand-at-wisbeach-1-7423052/|title=Video - Sun and sand at WisBEACH| newspaper=Fenland Citizen|date=30 September 2019|access-date=9 January 2019}}</ref>