Review: Poli Degaine (Punchy Draw)

This is the show that disappeared yesterday, due to their puppets going walkabout. Luckily, everything was good for them to perform today, and they did so in the Student Centre ballroom. Produced by Compagnie La Pendue, they came all the way from France.

The first thing we see on stage is a traditional glove puppet booth, totally Punch and Judy style (the clue is in the name :wink: ), with a curtain border across the front under the booth’s window, and a curtain lowered over the window itself. The puppeteers enter from one of the doors at the back of the ballroom, the woman piggybacked on the man. One of the funniest lines of the show was their intro: "There’s good news, and there’s bad news. The bad news is that this show is in French. The good news is there’s nothing in it to understand." (Ok, it may be paraphrased a bit, but it was funny)

Poli Degaine is a glove puppet performance based around Polichinelle (if you’re not familiar, it’s the traditional Italian/French clown, sometimes known as Pulcinella and later, Harlequin). Whilst there’s no straight plotline, rather consisting of small scenes and transitional moments, it doesn’t feel like there’s no story. In fact, that’s half the fun. Polichinelle argues with a dog mouth puppet over sharing his (Polichinelle’s) bed; or falls in love with and has kids - too many for his liking - with ‘Judy’. He gets breakfast from a chicken - an egg - only to end up killing the chicken and turning it into sausage. And in what’s probably the most hilarious scene of all, Polichinelle fights off death (the typical death figure, black hooded cape and all), and death’s two copies. A feat that was brilliantly scripted, where death literally multiplies before our very eyes.

Poli Degaine is the epitome of a Punch and Judy show; glove puppets, lots of slapstick, and lots of hitting each other over the head. The puppets are even thrown into the audience, and for a bit of oddity, the dog puppet ‘pees’ into the audience too! I’m not a fan of glove puppets, and even less of a fan of Punch and Judy, but I found myself laughing non-stop and loving the wit and timing of the scripting as well as the manipulation of these puppets. The puppeteers break the fourth wall often, and use the curtain border, the curtains of the booth window, and the curtain at the front-bottom of the booth to create interesting and often chaotic chase scenes. (Despite them saying it was in French, the majority of the play used squeeks and other noises, with Polichinelle doing a sort of kazoo-style speaking in English/French)

To be honest, I spent so much time laughing, I didn’t even notice the lighting (unusual for me), so I’ll briefly mention costumes. The two puppeteers wore basic black, but with a sort of French style to it (yeah, I know that’s a stereotype, but check out the pics linked above and you’ll see that it’s the easiest way to describe them). It’s not quite ‘French mime’, but still gives you that same feel.

Anyway, I also don’t recall any music, but then it’s been a long day… from memory, there were all sorts of vocalisations and live sound effects, all effective and appropriate.

This has to be the best show of the day, and I wish we had finished with it. I guess however that the booth/puppets were too small to be seen well in the Ferst Centre. If you ever manage to get to see this show, do! It’s hilarious! I give this show: