A puppeteer has decided that the Punch and Judy show is not politically correct and the couple will stop hitting each other in a modern adaption.
Over the years, concerned parents and teachers have argued that the violent content of a Punch and Judy show isn’t appropriate for children.
In 1947, the Middlesex County Council tried to ban Punch and Judy from schools, but the resulting outcry led to the eventual reinstatement.
But now, Spike Lidington, 20, has decided that after 362 years of marriage, the puppets will work together as partners in crime instead.
Children and adults watch a Punch and Judy show in Covent Garden, London yesterday
Over the years, concerned parents and teachers have argued that the violent content of a Punch and Judy show isn’t appropriate for children
For the first time, Judy will take centre stage at London’s Covent Garden.
The modern show has been developed by the University of Exeter as part of the Judy Project – an investigation into the roles women have played in puppet shows and how gender is portrayed.
Now, Punch and Judy will hand out punishment to police offices, devils and crocodiles instead of one another – which previously sparked concerns around the show being likened to domestic violence.
In the modern version, the puppets will have arguments but ‘don’t hit each other with sticks,’ The Times reported.
Dr Tony Lidington, Spike’s father, shrugged off accusations of the show being a ‘woke makeover’.
He told The Guardian: ‘Woke simply means being aware of the society you live in and the people around you, so I’m more than happy to be called woke. ‘
Now, Punch and Judy will hand out punishment to police offices, devils and crocodiles instead
Punch and Judy has previously been subject to criticism over misogyny as Judy often nags her husband and is sometimes bears the brunt of his blows.
But in Lidington’s version, she ‘has some agency’ and survives beyond the first scene and ‘is not a victim’.
He told The Times: ‘They act more as a double act than as a subservient wife to a funny man.’
In 2018, a puppeteer slammed political correctness for ‘killing fun and laughter’ after a school cancelled his Punch and Judy show.
He had refused to ensure Punch didn’t hit Judy when a Middlesbrough school requested it.
