Michael Simon, Martyn Jacques, The Tiger Lillies

Life is cruel, and we can’t choose our parents. This is the story of George Punch. From his birth up to his final demise. Appearing on the scene: the boozy mother and the father, who beats the child up, the policeman and the devil.

Following Shockheaded Peter, Michael Simon adapted and staged the newest work of the Tiger Lillies at the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus: Punch, a relative of the German Kasperle, lives in a prefab in the suburbs. The school of life teaches him little about love, but much about violence. For the world is bad, and people are evil. A ludicrous family tragedy, as mundane and ridiculous as a soap opera, as sensually cruel as Punch-and-Judy-shows.
“It’s funfair. Unholy, blasphemous conduct is happening. Satanic verses as a cabaret. Punch is the evilest Punch in the whole world. A devil leads us through the programme. Shhhh, only for grown-ups! Come, look at the predatory murders, the blood-thirsty manslaughters! Come, if the boring soaps on TV don’t do anything for you anymore.
This is how the show, which the London band Tiger Lillies developed from a 200-year-old street theatre subject, could be advertised: a celebration of banalities, a round dance of cruelties, devilish sparks – a very British evening with the name Punch & Judy.” (Rheinische Post)
“Punch & Judy is the name of this ‘Family Soap’, which will become a hit not only with friends of the blackest humour” (Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung)
Punch & Judy was first performed on 22 May 2004 at the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, directed by Michael Simon.
Martyn Jacques is one of the singers of the Tiger Lillies. Since its founding in 1989, the trio of musicians has spent most of the last decade travelling all over Europe.
Michael Simon, originally a stage designer, has been working as a successful director for many years. Together with Martyn Jacques, he created the musical Punch & Judy.