Punch and Judy: the seaside puppet show back in fashion

If you have spent any summer at the British seaside, you have likely come across a Punch and Judy show: a small booth, a pair of glove puppets, and a fair amount of slapstick violence. The tradition is seeing a revival across the South West, including Devon and Cornwall, and it is worth knowing what you are actually watching when you stop. At its heart, the show is a sequence of short scenes, each an interaction between the anarchic Mr Punch and another character who usually ends up on the receiving end of his slapstick. It has been performed in booths across the country for over 350 years, and it is still very much a family-friendly affair.

The story is older than most people realise. Punch has his roots in the 17th-century Italian commedia dell'arte, derived from the Neapolitan character Pulcinella, which was anglicised to Punchinello and eventually just Punch. He began as a marionette, a puppet on strings, but was reinvented as a glove puppet to allow for the violent movements the character is known for. Even his wife's name changed: she was originally called Joan, but became Judy because the name was easier to articulate with the swazzle, the device the puppeteer holds in their mouth to give Punch his distinctive, squeaky voice. That voice is the show's trademark, and the phrase 'pleased as Punch' comes straight from the character.

Punch's first recorded appearance in England was on 9 May 1662, a date traditionally taken as his birthday. It was during the Restoration, when theatre was being revived after Oliver Cromwell had closed it in 1642, and the diarist Samuel Pepys caught an early version of Punch performed by the Italian puppeteer Pietro Gimonde in Covent Garden. By the Victorian era, the shows had become a staple of the streets, announced by drums or pan flutes, and the audience shifted from adults to mainly children. That is also when the cast settled into the line-up you will recognise today: Punch and Judy, their baby, a hungry crocodile, a policeman, a clown, and a chain of sausages. The crocodile, in particular, took over the role of Punch's main adversary from the Devil, who had been his regular opponent in the earlier shows.

Visually, Punch is easy to spot: a red jester's motley, a sugar hat with a tassel, a hunchback, a crooked nose, and a slapstick in hand. The performance is built on audience participation, with crowds encouraged to shout 'He's behind you!' as the action unfolds. It is a simple formula that has survived centuries, and the revival across the South West this summer is a sign that it still lands with a new generation.

So, if you happen upon a booth on a beach or at a fair this season, you are watching a piece of theatre that has been running since the days of Charles II. It is not sophisticated, but that is the point: a bit of chaos, a squeaky voice, and a lot of laughter, just as it has been for over three and a half centuries.