GARP Punch and Judy 3.Sets, Types of Puppet Theatres and Audiences

3. Sets, Types of Puppet Theatres and Audiences

This section will mainly be about the context of the Punch and Judy.
I will look mainly at the Victorian Society; their need for entertainment, the fairs, the shows, the theatre and general excitement. This was the age at which Punch at Judy was at the height of its popularity. So why did the Victorians like it so much?
Where and when were they shown?
How did the Victorians react to the violent nature of the shows? This will be an interesting aspect to look at.
What did the sets look like? Why were they decorated in a particular way? Where does the design originate? What are its links with theatre? Who were the performances for? Were the performances altered for different audiences?

Fairs

With the arrival of train travel in many exciting possibilities were now available for the Victorians to visit and experience places they had never been to before; this was a liberating time. Ordinary people were beginning to have money and they wanted to use it to enjoy themselves.
Until Thomas Cook had organised the world’s first advertised excursion train trip, on 5 July 1841, we had never had the concept of a ‘holiday’ before. This was a completely new idea for the Victorian people and they embraced it; they became “pleasure seekers” (Hart-David, Adam, p104).

One place the Victorians enjoyed travelling to were the fairs, held in many cities over Britain.
This is one place where ‘Punch and Judy’ shows were often performed. The fairs were a major source of income for the people that ran them. They attracted herds of people from all classes; from well-heeled, bourgeois businessmen to cheapjacks, pickpockets and prostitutes. The atmosphere of the fairs has been described as, “exciting, explosive and often menacing and violent” (Cameron, David, p1).

‘Punch and Judy’ was a seen as “public show” and so everyone was invited and there was virtually no segregation. This was quite unusual for the Victorians as there had always been a strong class divide. The ‘Punch and Judy’ show represented shared pleasure amongst all classes.
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Everyone that came to the fairs, no matter what class, dressed in their finest clothes. They wanted to look their best for their special day out. Crowds and crowds came flocking in to be entertained and overjoyed by the rides and performances. It is believed that even geese came to the fairs! One theory is that Nottingham’s fair was eventually called Nottingham’s Goose Fair due to vast numbers of geese, “in fine flocks from the stubbles from miles around” (Cameron, David p132) were attracted to the fair over many years. Perhaps it was all the food left out?

(Insert picture from book, ‘The English Fair’, p132)

At these fairs there were a variety of shows and spectacles, from

In London last week and saw a traditional but they are not used in the same way as they were with the Victorians as we have become used to old technologies and so it has lost the excitement for many people.

Seaside

The seaside was another destination were a ‘Punch and Judy’ show would have been found. The seaside was also a holiday resort for the Victorians; many people chose to spend their holidays here. Scarborough, Whitby, Brighton and Blackpool are amongst some of the “leisure capitals” and beach destinations that were very popular and many still are today. Many of which have their original Victorian features in place and in use.
As well as ‘Punch and Judy’ shows other entertainment was available, such as donkey riding, to keep everyone happy.

(Pictures of some of these destinations and Victorian features eg, Whitby with donkeys etc)

(pictures of huts on beach)


Sets

Structure of Set

(insert picture from World of Puppets p20)

There are many variations of ‘Punch and Judy’ set design however they all have the following features in common;

The set of a ‘Punch and Judy’ replicates a traditional theatre set but on small scale.

(Insert picture of theatre from ‘A Concise History of the Theatre’ p108-109)

This is a very large-scale stage, elaborately decorated.

( next to/ under this image insert a picture of a ‘Punch and Judy’ set to show similarities)


The body of a ‘Professor’ is hidden behind a material made from velvet that is soft to the touch, which is wrapped around a wooden square framed structure. The Professor is hidden here so as the audience can imagine that the puppets are real living creatures and not just controlled by a human.

Decoration of Sets

Many of the sets were decorated with red and white stripes or sometimes red and yellow. Why is this?

Or perhaps it was influenced by the deck chairs on the beach.

Picture of deck chair

The colours used on the sets were very bright and bold, such as cadmium red combined with a rich yellow and sky blue. One can see these colours used in Victorian advertising and decoration

(insert some photos below for examples)





Target Audience

The shows performed as though they are for children but I think that the content is really meant for adults. All the reference points and influences for the show (see section 1. Origins) are from mature and adult material such as Commedia dell’arte, which was theatre purely meant for an adult audience.
The shows contain much violence and many bad lessons that parents would not like to teach their children. However, hitting your child was much more acceptable for the Victorians for example, a teacher was allowed to hit a pupil when they had misbehaved. It would not have been so shocking for young children to see. This was just how society was at that time.
The Victorians were very open-minded in some ways but in others they were very prudish. For example they were very accepting of the violence used in the Punch and Judy shows yet when it came to getting changed on the beach they needed special bathing chambers and clothes that were unrevealing.

(Insert picture of the bathing machine used at Margate, p108, The English Fair)

These were used in the smarter of the resorts. You were able to take a bathing machine from the top of the beach and could then be wheeled down to the water’s edge. Then with the power of one or two strong men would help you take an stimulating plunge into the sea.

Yet, postcards that were made and very popular in the Victorian times were quite vivacious and naughty. Some showed violent scenes and others show their surreal sense of humour.
The Victorians had a real mix of characteristics. On the one hand they were very cautious and sensible but on the other they are

Here are some examples

(insert pictures of postcards from a ‘A Pennyworth of Art’, ‘Fantasy Postcards’ and some from my own collection such as “If you visit here I’ll give you the glad eye.”)

These postcards have been an immense source of inspiration for me. If I am ever stuck for ideas I look through these collections and usually ideas come to me (touch wood!).

Many shows were also shown on the beach. This attracted yet more crowds to the beaches for their holidays.

Puppeteer

A single puppeteer, known as a Professor, traditionally performed the ‘Punch and Judy’ show. A famous Professor that was well known amongst puppeteers was Professor Green.

(Insert image p29 “A Pennyworth of Art”)

Sometimes in the shows they used live animals to interact with the puppets as you can see in this show by Professor Green. One show in the 17th century, Mr Punch is known to have danced with a trained pig.

A technique of puppetry, which was adapted for the ‘Punch and Judy’ shows, was called ‘Picklehaering’ or translated to English is ‘pickle herring’. This is where the hand is put inside the puppet, thereby moving the body, head and arms. This technique was from a Germany puppet show made in 1744 by Frisch called “Meister Haemmerlain”.

(Place in pic of pickle herring + hands)


Another device the Professor would have used was a swazzle. This device is put into the mouth to make a strange noise, similar to the sound of a kazoo. This was used to make the weird noises of the characters in Punch and Judy. I think this may have been used to detachand distort the puppeteers voice from the puppet. This is so the audience imagine the puppet is its own character rather than just having a human voice.
However, some people are able to produce a brilliantly clear voice for Punch without the use of a Swazzle. One advantage is clarity but this without the use of the swazzle lacks the hard rasp of a swazzle-produced voice and also the ear-splitting trumpet-like quality of the noises that an enraged Punch emits.


(Picture of a kazoo)

(Picture of a swazzle)

Here is how to make a swazzle of your own

(Insert images and construction by Richard Landon)

One could have even attended a ‘Swazzle Clinic Workshop’ at Puppet Fest 2005 at Concordia University, Minnesota State Capito, USA with Glyn and Mary Edwards.

GARP Punch and Judy costumes section

2. Costumes and Appearance

A timeline will be a clear and practical way of presenting the information in this section. This timeline would show the connections between events of a particular time and how they may have influenced the designs of the Punch and Judy characters. This would put it into context nicely and a nice way to see the natural progression of the designs.
I will look at the distinctive features such as Punch’s nose, the brightly coloured costumes and wide smiling faces to try to discover what or whom they represent.

This section is intended to be mainly visual
So for this section, at the moment, there is not much to show but a collection of images I have been gathering that are relevant to the above. Please refer to images at the back image section.

In this section there will be

Formation of Punch’s nose
Look-a-likes, people from each selected time that look like the character
Modern day equivalents
People that look like the characters of ‘Punch and Judy’
Architecture that have been an influence

I hope to make a large fold out image to show

For now I will do a brief synopsis of the areas I have been investigating,

Punch

The figure of Punch derives from the stock character of Pulcinella.
He has a distinctive hooked nose, pointed chin, red cheeks and wears an English Jester like outfit of red and yellow. He always carries a stick.
Some believe that his nose is a phallic symbol.

Old Shops and Huts

Some more inspiration for the cardboard shop

Vintage Wallpaper

For the Cardboard Curiosity shop I am building I want to paint/print/stencil wallpaper on the inside based on the following old designs to give it a nostalgic feel and as though it has be found once again....

Erasmus essay for British Council

Emily Hayes
Graphic Arts BA(Hons)
Liverpool John Moores University


My Erasmus Experience: Connecting Life and Learning

Berlin is an amazing city; it is bohemian, eccentric, wild and magical. It is a city of constant surprise and inspiration; whether I was at the flea market on Sunday or cycling through Tiergarten (whilst looking out for foxes and red squirrels) or finding myself on a roof top party, 5 floors up with a stunning panoramic view of Berlin.

My Erasmus year away was spent at the Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK), studying Illustration. My tutor was Professor Henning Wagenbreth, a well-known and respected Illustrator in Germany. Henning was a great tutor fo me, he taught me how to create images that are bold, graphic, easily understood whilst keeping depth, intrigue and meaning. I can still hear his voice in my head as I draw or design an image, I feel I have a different perspective when making work and for the better. He made me really challenge myself. He was a very inspiring tutor.

I also gained a lot from my class in Berlin; being in a mixed year group I was taught alongside students who were in their fifth year of study and so this meant that the level of teaching was much more demanding.
Germany illustration as a whole I feel is very different English illustration to so this was really interesting to be shown something new. I look at my work now since being back and can see the influence it has had on my work.


Ups and Downs

I was able to live life in Berlin like a lord, the price of living compared to other German cities and especially English cities was considerably lower. I was able to live in a lovely flat, eat nice food, buy lots of books, objects and prints I could never usually afford.

Finding a flat in the first semester was quite a struggle. I visited many, many flats all with people with long lists of other potential flat mate names written down. I felt like I was never going to find a place. Despite this, I did enjoy looking round people’s flats and walking around gave me a really clear sense of the city.
I stayed in a youth hostel, sleeping in a room with nine other women for a couple of weeks until I was eventually offered a charming flat next to the canal. I then had to fly suddenly back home after finding out my boyfriend was critically ill. So things took a while to lift off.
However when returning in April for the seond semester, looking once again for a flat, it was quite different story as I was offered the first flat I went to, which was absolutely perfect and I really enjoyed living there.

One major problem was of course the language barrier. I went to Berlin without ever having a German lesson, just a few CDs before catching my plane. At the beginning I felt bad for not being able to speak German and relying on other people to speak English for me.
Lessons were difficult trying to understand in German. I got tired of irritating people asking them for help. I felt really out of my depth, stupid and a bit lost. Illustration briefs were not written down and so often I would get things wrong, once spending hours working to produce a full colour A5 image to find out that it was actually meant to be in black and white as an A4 image. I had to start over again.
So, I decided to take German intensive evening classes which gave me a really good boost . I felt myself improve quickly and was able to engage in German life. Though, if I am honest, I felt I could only get by and even towards the end I found having long conversations a difficulty. This I found disappointing.
However, learning another language has ironically given me a better understanding of my own language. I enjoyed looking for the word connections and etymology; I even began to make work based upon this whilst I was there.

Ventures Outside

Whilst looking for a room on the Internet, I got to know an illustrator called Tom Eigenhufe, who had a room he needed to rent out. In the end I didn’t need the room but we kept in touch nevertheless.
Soon after we met and Tom asked if I wanted to get involved in a print project with a group of illustrators. The project was to make a large format lino cut calendar for 2007 based on the bizarre theme of ‘Muff”. In total there were eight illustrators each with either one or two designated months. I was given January (which was used for the front cover also) and September.
We then printed it together at the fantastic Bethanien, an old, grand hospital that has been converted into a cultural centre, part of which is an amazing print workshop.
Once it was finished we had an exhibition of the calendar in a gallery‚‘Fraeulein-Smillas‘, in Berlin for two weeks. The calendar was then sold in a variety of places including the Neue Nationalgalerie shop.
In April, I returned for the second semester at UdK. Tom Eigenhufe asked if I would like to make a two colour, sixteen page, silk-screened book on any theme of my choice. A few weeks later I made the illustrations for my book, “The Green Man” and he completed his also and we printed once again at Bethanien. We silk-screened 250 books and then these are now selling in Berlin, Hamburg and a selected locations in England.
In return for my work I gained a share of the books and the ‘Muff Calendars 2007’ and also a small payment.
Although it was a lot of work to have running alongside my university work, being involved in these projects was a great experience and opportunity. I was lucky to be able to work alongside professional illustrators and to be given an insight into working as an illustrator. It was interesting to see how my work altered when working on live brief with limited time. I made me realise that if you work hard enough one can make things happen.


Coming Home

I think Berlin has prepared me well for my final year for example at the end of each year, the whole of UdK, all years and disciplines have a major exhibition held in each of the sites. This was a great experience being part of this show as it has masses of publicity and crowds of people came flocking in. I found the idea of showing my work to the public really drove and pushed my work to a higher level.

Berlin has also prepared me mentally for life. I feel I have a lot more confidence and understanding of myself and work. I feel that if I can survive a year abroad then there are plenty more things I am capable of. I have come back to university feeling confident and independent with having this experience.

Next year I hope to go on to study master in Visual Communications/Illustration in London and as part of this I would like to return once again to Berlin as part of the studies. I would enjoy to be taught again by Henning Wagenbreth, he invited me back in to his class.

I met so many inspiring people and experienced many things I would have never dreamt of. My time away was full and exciting. Berlin will always hold a place in my heart.

Orlando the Marmalade Cat

Orlando is a children's book (19 in the series) made between 1938 and 1972 by illustrator Kathleen Hale.
The most impressive aspect of the lithographs is how she has made them without a key line drawing, which must have been a nightmare to work out. I am trying to do a similar thing at the moment with a silk screen so she is a good person for me to look at.

Cardboard Houses

I have been looking at the idea of a cardboard house.



(Top picture)
Stutchbury and Pape's House of the future : Cardboard

Here we have a recent invention of a cardboard house...100% cardoard and fully waterproof. It cuts costs in many different ways.It is made to reduce costs of housing and is environmentally sound. Low costs in transportation.

You may not want to live there permanently however the cardboard house would be good in situations such as in an emergency or live in it whilst your permanent house is being renovated.