Saint Joseph and the Virgin Mary come on, looking for a place to rest. Marie is about to give birth to the Infant Jesus, but all the doors are locked. They exit the stage. The next scenery shows the Nativity scene with the Holy Family. A choir accompanied by guitar music announces the birth of Jesus and the arrival of the Shepherds, who have come to bring him gifts. They exit the stage when the Magi arrive. The latter leave the gifts and greet the child. The Choirmaster of the Angels initiates the Dance of the Angels and the play ends with a last song of praise, sung in unison.

Single rod marionettes

Not specified

Portugal

Borba

Évora

Printed

Crib

Nativity

Peasant condition

Religious

Lyrical

Satirical

Comical

Bonecos de Santo Aleixo: Joseph, Mary and the Infant Jesus

Portuguese

Joseph

Virgin Mary

Angel

Shepherd

Wise Men (Biblical Magi)

Melopoeia

Chorus

Board

Comical foreign accent

Comical regional accent

Kicking on the ground (sound effect)

Sung scenes

Auto do Nascimento do Menino

Auto of the Nativity

Punch gets his nose bitten by Toby, the dog. Its master, Scaramouche, accuses him of of having abused his dog, and they fight with sticks until his head splits from his body under Punch’s blows. In the following scene, Punch asks Judy for their infant in order to take care of him. However, irritated by his cries, he hits him against the frame of the puppet booth, and throws him in the middle of the audience. In the feud that follows, Punch hits Judy to death using a stick. He then has an affair with Pretty Polly. In the second act, Punch is thrown to the ground by his horse, Hector, and ends up beating to death the Doctor who came to help him. He makes a lot of noise, ringing a bell, and fights with the neighbour who came to ask him to stop. In the third act, Punch fights with a blind man. When policemen and Jack Ketch, a hangman, come to stop him, Punch hits them but is finally imprisoned. Punch must be hung, but he manages to have Jack Ketch hung instead. At the end, the Devil intervenes and fights with Punch, but Punch emerges triumphant.

Glove-puppet

France

Paris

Stick

Animal

Marseillaise

Infant

Father

Household

Couple

Murder

Serial murder

Noise

Music

Gallows

Justice

Cruelty

Farcical

French

Polichinelle

Scaramouche

Baby

Doctor

Domestic servant

Blind

Police Superintendant

Constable

Executioner

Devil

Horse

Mrs Polichinelle

Address to the public

Off-stage voices

Song

Dance

Blow-with-a-stick

Splitting of the body

Domestic scene

Speechless character

Hanging scene

Blind character

Final intervention of the devil

Character thrown out of the scene

Animal dressé

The Tragical Comedy, or Comical Tragedy, of Punch and Judy.

Polichinelle (de Guignol)

In an atmosphere recreating the Soviet Union in the 1970s, two actors greet the audience in Russian. They are wearing blond wigs and handing out tickets made of tissues. An old record player, a table with an ancient television covered with a crocheted doily and small china dogs, among other objects, form a kitschy setting. The paper figures show a nose coming off the face of author Nikolai Gogol and going into a bottle of port wine on the table, next to a turtle with Marine Le Pen’s face. Then Theresa May flies across space aboard a T-Rex. Vladimir Putin is turned into a zebra in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s body, with Sacha Baron Cohen’s legs (Borat). He will then appear in a two-headed heart alongside Donald Trump. Finally, Jacques Prévert’s and Luís de Camões’s lines are recited and accompanied by an unusual and varied soundtrack (Iggy Pop, Serge Gainsbourg, Juliette Gréco, Yves Montand).

Toy theatre

Object theatre

All audiences

Lisbon

Storyboard

Politics

Social criticism

Nose

Kitsch

Collage

Culture

Absurd

Este não é o nariz de Gogol mas podia ser... com um toque de Jacques Prévert (Compagnie A Tarumba, 2016)