BEST OF PUNCHED to Play Brighton Fringe 2013, Today

What is it about puppets and the seaside? As weird and wonderful as spotting a striped Punch and Judy tent hovering near the tideline, Brighton's puppetry community is sprouting invention in all kinds of unexpected places this Fringe.

"I love those guys!" shrieks Miranda, hostess of Brighton's barnstorming puppetry cabaret evenings for adult, Punched - "There's something kinda dirty about finding grown men hiding in booths playing with dolls. Did you know, to do that 'Mr Punch' voice they have to basically swallow the swazzle? Ha! I think that'll be the title of my autobiography...!"

Getting a word in edgeways around Mirands's constant compering can be a challenge but her puppeteer / handler Darren East of TouchedTheatre manages to explain the idea behind the night. "When we moved to Brighton we realised there were so many fantastic artists experimenting with puppetry here, we thought we'd try to put an evening together to showcase the wild variety of their talents." And so, in December 2011, Punched was born and after 18 months of selling out the Nightingale Theatre, the Best of Punched will bring to the Old Market highlights from previous programmes plus some brand new acts, on stage, on film and on walkabout. "Our aim is to surprise audiences with just how diverse - surprising, hilarious and moving - an art form puppetry can be."

Of course it isn't only in Brighton that puppetry has experienced a Rennaissance of late, with popular hits like 'Warhorse' and 'Avenue Q' reawakening audiences to the imaginative and comic possibilities of this ancient form. Local puppeteer Annie Brooks explains the lure 'What I love about puppetry is that you can create an environment where the audience are freed from human logic - a giant can come to life, an elephant can literally walk across into the room or a tomato can be the protagonist of your show'. For Lewes-based fine artist turned puppeteer Isobel Smith, "With puppetry it's simply a matter of life and death."

That there's a substantial puppetry strand in this year's fringe programme illustrates its growing appeal to both artists and audiences. Whilst Punched favourites Annie Brooks (Colossal Crumbs), Matt Rudkin (Inconvenient Spoof) and TouchedTheatre are all premiering work at the Nightingale Theatre; the Warren also offers substantial puppetry fare including the critically acclaimed 'The Girl With Irons Claws', which has been touring almost continuously since a 2011 Edinburgh run and Theatre Temoin's moving 'The Fantasist'. For younger audiences, Bootwerks' 'The Incredible Book Eating Boy' at the Jubilee Library also comes unreservedly recommended.

The puppetry in Best of Punched features fantastical creatures, poetry, cabaret, feats of craft and engineering, live art, shadow play and dance and seems to demonstrate that the form's moved on a long way from the stock scripts and predictable action of Mr Punch's booth.

"But he'll always be with us! " jumps in Miranda, "There's a bit of him in all of us." And now she mentions it, there is something of a resemblance there...

"It's going to b an extravaganza!" she calls back as Darren carries her firmly out the theatre door.

To borrow a phrase: Now that's the way to do it!

Best of Punched is on May 26th (Bank Holiday Sunday) at 8pm, with doors and surprises from 7pm.

Story by Beccy Smith.

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