Punch Gorilla was written for the first East One Festival and performed by members of the Half Moon Company on Shadwell Fields in the summer of 1972. The stage was a scaffolding version of a Punch and Judy booth crossed with a tower block.
Co-founder of Half Moon Theatre, Michael Irving talks about Punch Gorilla, the first outdoor production, which was a modern day take of Punch and Judy. He describes its mixed reception. Interviewed by Beccy Allen.
Writer and musician, Andy Smith was first involved with Half Moon Theatre on Alie Street in 1972, when he wrote Punch Gorilla, a re-working of the Punch & Judy story, with adult performers. He describes how the crowd sometimes enjoyed it too much, when encouraged to throw fruit and vegetables at the performers. Interviewed by Rosie Vincent.