The tragical acts, or comical tragedies of Punch and Judy — John Shaqi
The tragical acts, or comical tragedies of Punch and JudyJudd, W. J. (William J.)
History
The tragical acts, or comical tragedies of Punch and Judy
Judd, W. J. (William J.)
Punch and Judy; Puppet plays
Portable frames, complete, ready for use, are advertised by the author
in the last pages of this work; yet the reader, if a genius, may save
half its cost by constructing for himself the little house. Obtain
four pieces of pine, eight feet long, two inches in diameter; let them
be planed on the four sides; divide each piece in the centre, and fix
thereon an hinge, with a bolt on the opposite side; thus the four
eight-feet pillars may be made to fold up to fit into any box or trunk
four feet in length. Next cut six cross-pieces, 31 inches long, for
the sides, two to be used for the centre, and four for the ends; next
get ready five lengths, 36 inches long, to make the cross-pieces for
the back and front of the frame, four to be fitted on the four ends,
the remaining one to form the cross-piece on which you screw a flat
piece of wood, six inches wide, to form the stage, which we advise to
be fixed up about 59 inches from the ground, the whole to be clamped
firmly together with twenty-two ordinary iron bolts and nuts. If each
joint is mortised, the skeleton structure will have a wonderful degree
of strength. To finish, cut a shelf from a ten-inch board, full 36
inches long; mortise two of the corners to fit or catch into the two
front pillars; this you lay on the two centre cross-pieces, which forms
you a snug interior shelf on which you lay all the figures that you
use in the performance. A proscenium, cut out of thick cardboard,
and tastefully decorated or painted, should be hung in front of the
stage. This, with the calico covering that you wrap around the frame,
completes the structure, illustrations of which may be seen on our
title-page and next succeeding engraving.
It is generally known that the writer of this book owns the largest
and most complicated Punch and Judy theatre in the world, with its
six changes of scenery; and, although its plan of construction has
been kept secret, we think that to the readers of this work we ought
to convey some idea of its specialties. We therefore not only give a
description, but have caused our artist to make engravings of two of
its most important parts of construction. The theatre is near ten feet
in height, over six feet frontage, and the same distance in its depth
to back of stage. Below we give a description of the engraving.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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