'The True History of Mr. Punch and his Family'
Written and Presented by W.S. MEADMORE and L. DE GIBERNE SIEVEKING
Prologue sung by LEYLAND WHITE (Baritone)
Music by VICTOR HELY-HUTCHINSON .
Cast
Mr. Punch of England - W.S. MEADMORE and W. H. JESSON (the oldest Punch and Judy Showman alive)
A Passer by. A Mother. Voices. '
Of all the street shows and open-air theatres from which the drama as we know it sprang, the Punch - and - Judy show alone survives. And even it is fast vanishing : one is lucky now in London to hear round the next corner the historic screech of Punch and the whacking of his stick, and to come upon the little knot of errand-boys and rather shamefaced adults, clustered around the familiar faded proscenium on the ledge of which a bored Toby yawns at the show. As tonight's programme will reveal, Punch has a long and distinguished ancestry ; but those who think that he. himself is the flower of his race will be glad to hear this programme is not altogether historical, and that a real, genuine, street Punch-and-Judy show is to come before the microphone tonight.