Punch and Judy: Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy
- Synopsis
- A cultural history of Punch and Judy and a documentary on Giovanni Piccini. Piccini’s ‘Tragical Comedy and Comical Tragedy’ of Punch and Judy was first recorded in 1827 by J Payne Collier and illustrated by George Cruickshank. The film questions the reasons for the transformation of this malicious figure into the colourful clown of today’s seaside shows. Percy Press Jnr recreates an historical interview with a punchman drawn from Henry Mayhew’s ‘London Labour and the London Poor’. In 1968 Harrison Birtwhistle composed ‘Punch and Judy’; excerpts from this opera close the film.
- Language
- English
- Country
- Great Britain
- Medium
- Film; Video; Film. 16mm. sd. col. 48 min. Videocassette. VHS. col. 48 min.
- Technical information
- Black-and-white / Sound
- Year of production
- 1980
- Availability
- Hire
Sale - Uses
- Introductory courses in 19th-century popular entertainment; introductory research on popular entertainments.*
- Subjects
- Drama
- Keywords
- Piccini, Giovanni; Punch & Judy; puppet theatre
Credits
- Director
- Keith Griffiths; Stephen Quaij; Timothy Quaij
- Producer
- Keith Griffiths
- Writer
- Keith Griffiths; Stephen Pruslin; Stephen Quaij; Timothy Quaij
- Contributor
- Graham Nichols; Harrison Birtwhistle
- Cast
Joe Melia
Distribution Formats
- Type
- Film
- Format
- 16mm
Production Company
- Name
Koninck Studios
Sponsor
- Name
Arts Council of Great Britain
- Phone
- 020 7973 6455
- Fax
- 020 7973 6581
- Address
- London
SW1P 3NG
Distributor
- Name
Arts on Film Archive, University of Westminster
- Notes
- Arts on Film Archive offers on-line access to a large range of films on art produced in the United Kingdom since the 1950s, and is a unique record of British and international post-war art, as well as of documentary film-making in the UK. In its first phase, the archive offers a complete database and an on-line video streaming of all 450 films made by the film department of Arts Council England between 1953 and 1998 and several films produced till 2003 by the dance Department of ACE. The collection is only available streamed to ac.uk domain addresses.
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