Theatre / 60 min / £10(£9), £9(£8) / 14+
Showing @ Pleasance Courtyard, 1-27 Aug (not 14), 12.45
Punch and Judy shows have been a staple of children’s entertainment for 350 years. Tea Break Theatre are celebrating this anniversary with their own innovative adaptation of this great British classic. Their production relies on a single twist: the puppets are replaced by human actors. The use of a live cast puts the familiar story under the magnifying glass. With this one simple change, all of the considerable brutality and anarchy of the tale are brought to the fore. All the usual elements remain intact – even down to lines from an original 1828 script. But this is a very different, and darker, production from any you might remember from your childhood.