Modern Times Theater

Modern Times Theater Presents… “The Perils of Mr. Punch, Episode #58: That’s the Story of My Life”
This is the one and only Punch and Judy, presented live, and updated for the 21^st century.  

After 359 years Mr. Punch has decided to write his autobiography. But, writer’s block, laziness, and a pesky virus keep getting in his way. All the while, Mr. Punch deftly removes your bad mood, whilst he exhausts your child! Meanwhile, Judy struggles with unruly plumbing while avoiding the jaws of  the carnivore du jour! And, feast your eyes upon the diaper change that should not be! 

It’s a melodrama of epically small proportions, and it’s so funny that you’ll forget to take out your phone for at least the first half hour. The hand puppets are created from up-cycled designer trash and performed in an eccentric itinerant puppet stage. The show is hosted per tradition by a “bottler”, the uku-lady Rose Friedman. Justin Lander, showman of the absurd, portrays all the characters.

The program is rounded out with live music played on a variety of instruments, from the cornet to the bicycle pump. It’s a low-tech old-time spectacle, entertaining to people of all ages: from one to one hundred. 

Modern Times Theater has been adapting and updating Punch and Judy puppet shows for over a decade.  Co-founders Rose Friedman and Justin Lander are a husband and wife duo, producers for Vermont Vaudeville and alumni of the Bread and Puppet Theater.  Parents themselves, they strive to present quality entertainment that the whole family can enjoy.