Punch and Judy - Characters

Characters

The characters in a Punch and Judy show are not fixed as in a Shakespeare play, for instance. They are similar to the cast of a soap opera or a folk tale like Robin Hood. While the principal characters must appear, the lesser characters are included at the discretion of the performer. New characters may be added as the tradition evolves, and older characters dropped.

Along with Punch and Judy, the cast of characters usually includes their baby, a hungry crocodile, a clown, an officious policeman, and a prop string of sausages. The devil and the generic hangman Jack Ketch may still make their appearances but, if so, Punch will always get the better of them. The cast of a typical Punch and Judy show today will include:

• Mr. Punch
• Judy
• The Baby
• The Constable
• Joey the Clown
• The Crocodile
• The Skeleton
• The Doctor

Characters once regular but now occasional include:

• Toby the Dog
• Hector the Horse
• Pretty Polly
• The Hangman (a.k.a. Jack Ketch)
• The Devil
• The Beadle
• Mr. Scaramouche

Characters only seen in a historical re-enactment performance include:

• The Servant (or "The Minstrel")
• The Blind Man

Other characters included Boxers, Chinese Plate Spinners, topical figures, a trick puppet with an extending neck (the "Courtier") and a monkey. A live Dog Toby which sat on the playboard and performed 'with' the puppets was once a regular featured novelty routine.