Too Much Punch for Judy. Mark Wheeller

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      Too Much Punch for Judy was first published by the Institute of Alcohol Studies, 1988 (ISBN 1871195004)

      Too Much Punch for Judy was published by Dbda in 1999; Reprinted in July 2002, November 2003, March 2005, July 2006 & September 2016. (ISBN 9781902843056)

      This edition first published in 2020 by Salamander Street Ltd., 272 Bath Street, Glasgow, G2 4JR ([email protected])

      Too Much Punch for Judy © Mark Wheeller, 1987, 1999-2006

      All rights reserved.

      All rights whatsoever in this play are strictly reserved and application for performance etc. should be made before rehearsal to MBA Literary Agents Ltd, 62 Grafton Way, London W1T 5DW (attn: Sophie Gorell Barnes). No performance may be given unless a license has been obtained.

      You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or binding or by any means (print, electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

      PB ISBN: 9781913630300

      E ISBN: 9781913630317

      Cover and text design by Konstantinos Vasdekis

      Printed and bound in Great Britain

      10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

      Further copies of this publication can be purchased from www.salamanderstreet.com

      CONTENTS

       Introduction

       Too Much Punch for Judy

       Acknowledgements

      Sources: “Judy” and her family; PC Abrahams; PC Caten; Essex County Council Highways Department; Essex Police; Sister Hunt; “Duncan” and The West Essex Gazette.

      All the sources for kind permission to use their words.

      The performers in the Epping Youth Theatre productions Quenchers (1986) and Too Much Punch for Judy (1987): Kim Baker; Fay Davies; Jo Dumelow; Paul Elliott; Nick Fradd; Ryan Gilbey; George Griffiths; Emma Jefferson; Garth Jennings; Debbie Mitchell; Debbie Pollard; Jo Redman; John Rowley; Barrie Sapsford; Beth Spendlow; Emma Turner; Anna Wallbank and John Ward.

      Mick and Sylvia Baker for their initial inspiration and their tremendous support throughout the EYT performances.

      CADD (Campaign Against Drinking and Driving) for their tremendous campaign.

      Derek Rutherford, Institute of Alcohol Studies.

      Rosie Walsh & David Lyndsay (then of Essex County Council Highways Department) for their support.

      Frank Nunneley (then of Hertfordshire County Council – Road Safety) and all the Road Safety Officers in England, Scotland and Wales who have offered their support to the play’s continued success.

      Ken Boyden for taking the play to New Zealand for such successful tours.

      Mat Kane, Antony Audenshaw and Yvonne Allen, and the Ape Theatre Company for their stunning performances since 1988 in England, Cyprus, Germany, Jersey.

      To Mat, Steve, Fay, and Tor (Ape Theatre Company) for inspiring the opening and closing scenes.

      Alistair Black, Hampshire County Council Drama Inspector, for the idea to revisit the beginning of the play at the end… nice one!

      Sophie Gorell Barnes and all at MBA Literary Agency for continued belief and support.

      Dbda for publishing this play when other publishers had turned it down so often!

      Thanks to George Spender and those in the Salamander Street team for their efforts to extend the reach of my plays.

      Rachel Wheeller and family.

Introduction to the 2020 edition

      No one is more surprised than me at the enormous success achieved (so quickly) by Too Much Punch for Judy, which I wrote initially as a twenty-minute end section to a Youth Theatre play, Quenchers, about alcohol abuse. Since those initial performances in 1987 until 2018, Too Much Punch for Judy has toured non-stop throughout schools, colleges, prisons, young offenders institutes and army bases. It has also been performed extensively in Australia, Cyprus, N. Ireland, Éire, Germany, New Zealand, Norway, the USA (Texas), Spain, Canada, Singapore, South Africa, Hong Kong, Dubai and Vietnam.

      In 1991, I was awarded the Prince Michael of Kent Special Award for Services to Road Safety Education for the play. Too Much Punch for Judy is now one of the most (if not the most) performed contemporary plays, with 6058 licensed performances between 1987 and 2020… all this from a twenty-minute “extra” at the end of a production about alcohol misuse.

      By the Christmas of 1985 the outline structure of our Youth Theatre play dealing with the dangers of alcohol was, we thought, complete. Then I saw the emotive (and very effective) Christmas drink/drive campaign. The subject of drinking and driving had not even crossed my mind… times were very different then. Drink/driving was something that everyone knew happened but few really thought seriously about it. Here was a real challenge for the play; to flag up a really important issue and encourage an awareness of what was evidently a massive problem.

      Shortly after, I spoke to our Schools Police Liaison Officer who put me in contact with PC Chris Caten who, in turn, introduced me to “Judy”.

      JUDY: Chris Caten explained that there was a local playwright looking for a story about drinking and driving. He wasn’t at all sure that I’d want to do it but, as he knew me quite well thought it was worth sounding me out.

      I thought… well… alright then, if someone’s that interested I will… especially as Chris thought it was such a good idea. I didn’t view the details of the accident as private, I’d dropped a bollock and, well, it didn’t matter to me how many people knew, so long as it was going to do some good somewhere along the line.

      The local paper, the West Essex Gazette (who were always so supportive of the play), had been particularly sensitive in their coverage at the time of the accident, writing no more than a brief report. Consequently, the incident had not been “big” local news so, few people actually knew Judy’s story. There were even details of it, the research for this play uncovered, that Judy herself didn’t know… she was, for example, completely unaware that anyone arrived on the scene prior to Chris Caten.

      I met Judy on the 3rd January 1986. She was a wonderful subject to interview; she was incredibly open, making it easy for me to ask probing questions and, in describing events, quite naturally quoted lines of dialogue. I admired (and still do) her courage in coming forward. I left her house that day with the play planned out clearly in my head. It fell into place very naturally from that point on.

      JUDY: The main thing I remember about that first interview was getting upset at the point where I remembered I said ‘Oh no… not my beautiful sister’. I remember having to stop at that point thinking I was going to start crying and feeling really stupid.

      From initial interviews I conducted with Judy, her mum, Chris Caten, PC Abrahams, “Duncan” and Sister Davis, I was able to jigsaw together the first draft of the play.

      I set myself the challenge of only using words spoken in the interviews to ensure that the play “rang true”… as true as joint memories would allow. Consequently, the first draft was dense with monologues but it