Konrad Fredericks, a leading puppeteer from the UK, recently toured Pakistan to perform the ‘Punch and Judy Show’. He performed at the Fifth International Puppet Festival in Lahore, and also in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar under the auspices of The British Council.

The ‘Punch and Judy Show’ has been entertaining crowds for centuries and is the oldest folk puppet show in Europe. Punch is the most powerful of all legendary heroes, the most human, the most amusing, the most imperfect and the most loveable.

The first Punch and Judy Show was first recorded in Covent Garden, London by the diarist Samuel Pepys in 1662. Since then, carried by itinerant showmen throughout the UK and beyond, its popularity has not faltered. The play consists of comic and tragic episodes and lasts for as long as the showman sees fit. It is essentially improvised and dictated to a large extent by the audience.

The British Council, Islamabad in collaboration with Lok Virsa held a free puppet show for school children on 23 November. Two shows of ‘The Adventures of Mr Punch’ were held which were enjoyed by around 1,100 children who laughed, screamed and clapped at the antics of Mr Punch and friends.

The rooftop auditorium of the Lok Virsa, which was the venue, was full to capacity as a number of schools in the Rawalpindi-Islamabad region had confirmed their participation to the show.

‘The show was very entertaining. I loved it,’ said a class two girl while leaving the auditorium. ‘It was very, very funny.’

‘This is traditional street theatre where there is no fixed audience age level,’ said Konrad Fredericks, the puppeteer. ‘Anyone can stop by to see the show while on the street. I normally run the show for around 35 minutes for general audiences but it has to be shorter for children as they keep shifting their attention.’