Punch & Judy

Meredith Eliassen

Punch and his wife, ludy, the popular British marionette and puppet characters, date back to the character of Pulcinella from the 16th-century Italian Commedia dell'Arte . Punch and ludy follow a set formula and the audience provides opportunities for improvisation performed with a transportable booth stage known as a fit-up. Punch and ludy present grotesque slapstick comedy that juxtaposes stock characters that are known and understood across generations and cultures. Puppet theatre became a venue where distinct national sensibilities related to humor, wit, and satire emerged. Pulcinella (Italy), Kasperl (Germany/Austria), Kasparek (Czech Republic), Polichinelle (France) and Petrushka (Russia) are so imbedded in their collective national consciousnesses that they have been adopted into adult and children's play like other historic fictional characters from Shakespeare Pilgrim's ...

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