If Birtwistle’s 1968 opera Punch and Judy took the children’s puppet entertainment into the adult realm, The Opera Makers plan to the opposite with their new show Mr Punch at the Opera which is an interactive, pantomime-style adaptation of Pergolesi’s La Serva Padrona, intended as a fun (and short) way for children and families to access classical opera this Summer.
Mr Punch at the Opera is at the Arcola Theatre from 21 to 24 August 2024 as part of the Grimeborn Festival. The new adaptation of Pergolesi’s La Serva Padrona features a new English book by Becca Marriott and stars Matthew Kellett and Grace Nyandoro, with puppeteer Professor James, cellist Alison Holford and pianist Panaretos Kyriatzidis.
Mr Punch at The Opera explores all the ways puppets and opera singers can interact – as the heroine of the piece takes control of her story and her lazy boss Hubert, and lays siege to the mischievous Mr Punch’s theatre. For its time, La Serva Padrona was a progressive, feminist show with a feisty leading lady, and Mr Punch at The Opera takes this further, using an outdated narrative to red-flag representations of women in theatre and literature then – and now – turning the traditional anti-women idea of Punch & Judy on its head.
Full details from Arcola Theatre website.
