Output details
35 - Music, Drama, Dance and Performing Arts
Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
Every Good Wish Joe: The “Joe Beeby” project
• PaR (DVD and portfolio)
This project explores and extends the Punch and Judy practice of the late Punch Professor, Joe Beeby in the context of ‘post-traditional puppetry’.
300 word statement - information about the research process and / or content
The inquiry of this PaR project explores and extends the Punch and Judy practice of the late Punch Professor, Joe Beeby, whose puppets I purchased just seven months prior to his death in 2002. I never met him. His set of original figures has situated my research within the Post-Traditional Puppetry frame. Recognising it is impossible to reanimate Joe, part of the PaR nevertheless involves a search for him. In deconstructing his process, I seek to (re)construct something of his tradition and to this end I take on his persona in performance. For example, I have reconstructed his “Boxing Routine” to operate outside of the traditional booth, utilising a bungee rope attached to two boxing puppets. The routine enables me to embody the tradition without using the swazzle (Punch’s voice device).This work was first presented as part of Streets Alive Festival, Loughborough, June 2009.
The process of embodiment of fragments and traces of Joe has been documented by photo therapist, Rosy Martin and different iterations have been published. Every Good Wish – Joe (also with musician, Sylvia Hallett ) was presented within ‘Collisions’ at Central, September 2011. Audience members were invited to witness the first time that I ever heard Joe’s voice played on a cassette recorder. A Stain on Joe’s Tie is an installation documenting a private act made public at a meal celebrating Mr Punch’s 350th birthday. Presented as part of ‘Collisions’, Central 2012, the installation was subsequently invited to be part of The Big Grin symposium, March 2013, at C4CC and Roundhouse. In May 2012 at Central, I organised the ‘Subversive Symposium’ which included papers from Amber West (USA), Jill Fell, Glyn Edwards and me.
The findings have been disseminated through the performances and installations but complementary evidence is submitted in a Portfolio.
