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IN THE NEWS
TOUR OF THE MONTH
ON THIS DAY IN LONDON
25th September 1984 1st London performance of musical Stepping Out presented
25th September 1966 Actor Jason Flemyng was born in Putney, London.
25th September 1939 Conservative MP Leon Brittan was born in London.
25th September 1906 John Galsworthy's Silver Box, premieres in London
25th September 1888 The Royal Court Theatre in Kensington was opened.
25th September 1886 Comedy opera Dorothy, 1st produced in London
Punch and Judy Birthplace
The birthplace in England of the Punch and Judy puppet show.
Location: St Pauls Portico, Westminster
Description: On the 9th May 1662 Samuel Pepys was coming back from visiting a nearby ale-house when he stopped to watch a puppet show that was performing in Covent Garden.
It was the month that King Charles II (recently restored to the throne) was getting married and hordes of entertainers from all over Europe had thronged to the city hoping to make some money.
The Italian puppet play that Pepys saw was presented by puppetmaster Pietro Gimonde - or 'Signor Bologna' as he was known to his audience - and starred one of the great comic characters of all time.
The star puppet came originally from Naples, where he was known as Pulcinella, then toured across Europe to France - where he was called Polichinelle - and finally came to captivate English audiences who settled for calling him Punchinello.
Pepys' diary entry for 9th May reporting that he had seen the show is taken by today's performers as marking Punch's 'birthday'.
Tagged in this Tour: Elizabethan & Stuart London
Children
Historical
Ranking This Month: 1819/2730
Pages Hit This Month: 59
Link to This Page: http://www.shadyoldlady.com/location/963
Credits: http://www.coventgardenlife.com/info/street_entertainers/punch_judy/punch_judy.htm
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The birthplace in England of the Punch and Judy puppet show. |
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St Paul's Cathedral
Wren's masterpiece and oldest classic dominant symbol of London.
2007-03-07
Stanley Holloway was born here», 6.6km
The Rose Theatre», 0.4km
The Old Mercury Theatre», 4.2km
Heir to Spike Milligan's Throne», 5.4km
Comedy of Errors 1st Performance», 0.6km
Oscar Wilde Statue», 1.1km
Actress Lynn Fontanne's Home», 8.7km
The New London Theatre», 1.0km
Small Theatre, Big Heart», 2.6km
Trafalgar Studio's», 1.2km
mapping London's most interesting and unusual places and history
