"There to see an Italian puppet play... which is very pretty, the best that ever I saw..."

SAMUEL PEPYS  9 MAY 1662

That Punch has survived for more than 300 years is a tribute to those puppeteers who gave him life. They learnt what the public wanted, and if they didn't give it, they starved. Drama is based on conflict – be it of ideas or physical. Punch gives this, plus laughter.

The Punch character evolved from the Italian commedia dell'arte into a marionette and then thrived in Regency and Victorian Britain, following his transformation into a glove puppet around 1790. Today, Britain's national puppet is alive and well because within the living memory of each generation there were entertainers who inspired.

Punch's behaviour has always been criticized but the children who see a great show never forget it, and take Punch to their hearts. Their laughter forgives him. His fate has always been, literally, in the hands of the performer.