Ever heard the phrase, “(There’s) no show without Punch?” It describes, “a particular event, performance, endeavor, etc., [that] cannot be held or proceed as intended without the most important person or purpose. [It refers] to a Punch and Judy Show, a traditional puppet show starring Mr. Punch and his wife, Judy.”1 While many who have been to England might recall seeing such performances, anyone who has lived in Anguilla since Hurricane Irma can say they, too, have seen a Punch and Judy show!
A Puppet Show Following Dark Times
This hallmark of British culture was first documented in 1662 as a show featuring stringed marionettes actually performed by an Italian puppeteer.2 Notably, that was soon after years of Puritanical oppression that spanned the execution of King Charles I in 1649, the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell, and two years of his son’s ineptitude after his death. Fortunately, the king’s son Charles escaped into exile, although without a fortune or many friends before returning in 1660.3,4
The Declaration of Breda then enabled Charles II to restore the monarchy and ushered in a period of “general amnesty, liberty of conscience, an equitable settlement of land disputes, and full payment of arrears to the army” – as well as reopening public theaters.4,5 That said, the nation expressed some lingering trauma just a year later, when Cromwell was exhumed for a gruesome posthumous execution.3 Emerging from dark times, indeed.
As for our show here, like the puppets, the “humanitarian aid” after Irma had many strings.
Origins of Punch and Judy
In fact, King Charles II invited the Italian puppeteer also known as “Signor Bologna, alias Pollicinella” to perform and was enthralled enough to reward him with a gold chain and medal at the time.2 And as various performers came to Britain under the restoration, the genre evolved from its “roots in the Italian ‘commedia dell’arte’, where masked actors improvised comic plays… Polichinello was the subversive, thuggish character whose Italian name [was later] anglicised to Punch [and] may have developed from the word pulcino, or chick, referring to the character’s beak-like mask and squeaky voice” – a characteristic exaggerated by employing an oral device to distort the puppeteers’ speech.2
By 1709, Martin Powell was a prominent puppeteer who had “made Punch famous” as a frequent character, along with his then wife, Joan. By 1738, a license was issued “to open Punch’s Theatre” in London. However, that run was “short-lived” due to cost over-runs, which forced the sale of the marionettes. Thereafter, Punch performances progressed to glove puppets “in small portable booths [that] became a familiar sight on city streets and country lanes…”2
Some marionettes who caused cost over-runs in Anguilla were also forced out in the 2020 election, but they were immediately replaced by puppets who then worked “hand in glove” with the puppeteers.
Punch and Judy: Iconic Symbols of Conflict
By the 1800s, a prominent Punch dance performance was featured at Covent Gardens – his “wife was being called Judy…and he had a dog called Toby, usually played by a real dog.” As the comedy shows gradually dotted seaside venues, they also featured adult themes of physical marital conflict – as well as, Pretty Polly, Punch’s mistress.2
Prototypical plots included: Judy going out and leaving Punch to mistreat their Baby, returning to fight with him over the Baby’s care, and the Constable coming to address the fray, who would then succumb to being wildly clubbed by Punch. Thereafter, Punch delightedly “takes his stick” to other characters, often a Doctor, Skeleton and a Clown – until his final fight with the Devil, a Crocodile, Ghost or Hangman.
With a fixed smirking grin on Punch puppet faces, an image of “gleeful self-satisfaction” and squeaking laughter gave rise to the saying, “Pleased as Punch” – and as he clobbered one character after another, another adage, “That’s the way to do it!” likewise entered English-speaking cultures.6
Although the renowned author Charles Dickens asserted that the violent shows were harmless and perhaps socially cathartic in a letter to Mary Tyler in 1849, their depictions of domestic abuse led to a phase of perceived political incorrectness in the late 1990s. However, a resurgence of popularity followed with British commemorative postage stamps, performances spanning the United Kingdom, Canada, the US, Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa – and being voted as an English “icon” in a 2006 poll.6
And, there would be no show without the punch of VAT in most of those places, except the US. A prototypical plot, to be sure.
Punch and Judy – and GST
For any watching closely, they could see our last two governors were our very own Punch – and then Judy. We had it all. First, Punch smugly danced the night the voters sent the expensive marionettes home.
The “Baby” was our democracy. Punch pummeled it by forcing the new stage of puppets to go behind the curtains and abandon their election promises. The Baby was gasping by the time Judy came along, and she hammered another blow, making the Constable and Toby steal the show from the elected Ministers voting against GST.
Of course, The Stick was GST. In our show, the old marionettes passed it along. They showed the new puppets how it could flatten other characters into Skeletons that couldn’t afford to eat ? and make restaurants need a Doctor to survive. The Stick also helped make Clowns of those supporting GST and any thinking “services” were not already paying their share of millions in taxes ? like wholesalers, financial consultants, lawyers, contractors, other retailers – and manufacturers, which were Ghosts in the play from the start. Yep. Punch has gleefully smashed our economy, and worse, destroyed the joy of living here and sharing our beautiful home with visitors and friends who become our families. That is, we’ve had our own Punch and Judy show of domestic abuse, where The Stick has been wielded by those sworn to ensure our care.
So. As the lights dim and curtains close on those last two puppets that inflicted such harm, we are reminded that the next act will begin soon. This time another named Julia will make her debut. Shh. Will she take up The Stick and finish us off? Or… By chance, will she save the Baby and make Punch break his pact with the Devil, so he and The Stick take their last bow?
Repeal GST – and pass a balanced budget bill. Now!
This article reflects cultural and economic issues raised on July 5, 2021, at the House Select Committee on GST Public Hearing. 1https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/there+is+no+show+without+Punch; 2https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/thats-the-way-to-do-it-a-history-of-punch-and-judy; 3https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Cromwell#The_Protectorate:_1653%E2%80%931658 4https://wwnorton.com/college/english/nadrama/content/review/shorthistory/antiquity-18c/english1660.aspx 5https://www.britannica.com/topic/Restoration-English-history-1660;6https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punch_and_Judy
