nytheatre.com review
Matthew Trumbull à February
2, 2005
In this theatrical, absurdist, dance-like, puppet-utilizing,
beautiful study of couplehood, Punch and Judy are real
human beings, bonded together in a long-term, frequently
dysfunctional marriage. They are puppeteered by no
one save each other. We witness them on a night when
their marital discourse stymies, fires wild, and fights
dirty. The actors, Ker Wells as Punch and Tannis Kowalchuk
as Judy, are master craftsmen of movement art, and
only in the surreal moments when they switch the argument
from one of over-analyzation and loaded inquiry to
one of gesture and physicality do we ever feel hope
that Punch and Judy might get somewhere. Indeed, we
meet the couple at the top as they sing a blissful
duet together, but the bliss is a thin fa®¢ade
hiding tension. There is fear between Punch and Judy,
as between so many couples that have traveled through
life together for years. The great question between
themãWho are you?"ãremains answered
to the satisfaction of neither.
The slapstick banter between this coupleês puppet
namesakes almost seems healthier than what these human
beings say to one other in direct conversation. Wells
and Kowalchuk sharply turn the realistic dialogue into
the familiar, stylized give-and-take at various intervals
throughout the show. Compare and contrast the dialogue
from different points in the performance:
Punch and Judy as a realistic couple:
J: I thought you were going to bed.
P: I was.
J: So?
P: Iêm not anymore.
J: Good.
P: Thank you. I have to work tomorrow.
J: So do I.
P: Maybe you should go to bed, then.
J: Iêm not sleepy.
P: Maybe if you lay silently in the dark for a few hours youêd feel
sleepy.
Punch and Judy, more traditional:
J: Somethingês different, Mr. Punch.
P: Is it a new haircut?
J: No.
P: Youêve lost weight?
J: No.
P: New lipstick.
J: No (hums "Rockabye Baby")
P: I think sheês trying to tell me sheês knocked up.
J: Bingo!
P Iêll knock you up! (bang bang bang)
J: But Iêm in the family way!
P: Youêre in everybodyês bloody way! (bang bang bang)
The Punch and Judy we are more familiar with score
laughs because they invest in nothingãpain,
emotions, life events are all excuses to pratfall.
The two archetypes are profoundly altered when presented
as humans on the sinking vessel of their marriageãplugging
up holes with one hand, drilling new holes with the
other. We watch them invest in every aspect of their
opposite, and as a result, we see them exposed to inner
hurt that doesnêt have a slapstick reaction built
in. With no clear guide what to say and do, the characters
distance themselves from one another, and only surreal
scenes using sheets, masks, monologues, music, dance,
and a variety of puppets are able to bring out truths
lacking any other means of expression.
The spectacle of The Confessions of Punch and Judy is
fast-paced and starkly profound. Director Raymond Bobgan
has meticulously mapped out the feel of the show down
to the most delicate details. The color scheme of the
productionãblue for Punch, red for Judyãis
garishly festive and perfect. Stress-busting, kinetic
activities for both characters lend a layer of symbolism
that enhances the world onstage without smothering
it. Judy is a merciless vegetable chopper, while Punch
takes a hammer from his trusty tool kit and bangs around
the house. Punchês puppet-show monologue about
the Garden of Eden story starring Punch and Judy as
hammers is a textbook example of the transformative
power of the perfect prop.
Wells and Kowalchuk commit fully to each game the
couple playsãand really, that is how the show
moves from one moment to the other. It is a powerful
parable for any relationship. The glue holding everything
together is only as strong as the ability of every
participant to immediately recognize and excel at the
game chosen, and change the game when a disadvantage
is felt. A memorable sequence begins when the couple
squabbles about the mind-reading ability seemingly
required of each other. Ambiguous signals are continuously
issued and missed. The scene morphs into an interpretive
dance of bizarre gesture, paralleling their inability
to communicate. Translative speech is added, and it
becomes clear that though their gestures are easily
confusing, Punch and Judy are sending out messages
of grave urgency, desperate to reverse the doomed direction
of their marriage. The two actors use grace and precision
handling these sequences, and have tremendous connection
at all moments. As performers, Wells and Kowalchuk
listen to one another, paradoxically becoming perfect
at portraying a couple that doesnêt.
At the end, when all games have stopped, Punch and
Judy find enough harmony to allow them to go to bed
one more night together. Finally, they seem able to
have a meaningful exchange. Punch asks, Are we
monsters?" They admit they are. They pledge to never
fight, always be in love, and let Peace reign. Then
they laugh; this is their private joke. The Confessions
of Punch and Judy powerfully portrays humans that
have bounced back like puppets again and again, but
this Punch and Judy have emotional bruises to show
for it.
