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Figures in a Frame
The year is 1789, and Eddy Adams awaits execution in Newgate Prison along with French puppeteer Henri Castillou. His escape is enabled by Calvert, an enigmatic gentleman who, from that moment on, appears to have an altruistic interest in saving Eddy at times of danger.
As a fugitive from the authorities, Eddy’s life takes on a momentum of its own. He becomes entangled with a band of highway robbers, falls in love with an extraordinary woman called Rumer and, on discovering he has a gift for carving wooden figures, is befriended by Italian puppeteer Giovanni Piccini, performer of the popular Punch & Joan street show.
With the Bow Street Runners hot on his heels, Eddy’s escape leads to him being taken prisoner by the French. The French Revolution is in full flow, and it is Calvert who once again comes to Eddy’s aid, reuniting him with fellow escapee Henri and his wayward wife Cécile. After experiencing life farming in the Pyrenees, Eddy finds himself responsible for Cécile and her son on a hazardous return to England.
Back in London, Eddy discovers a passion as a performer of the popular Punch & Joan street show, soon to become known as Punch & Judy, and reunites with his friend Piccini.
Finally settled after all his amazing escapes and adventures, Eddy needs to learn the identity of the man who made all this possible – his lifetime saviour Calvert.
ISBN: 9781852002039
Size: 212x135m
Binding: paperback
Length: 450pp aprox
About the author:
Dan Bishop
The author was both a graduate and lecturer at the Rose Bruford College of Speech & Drama in Kent, and also a lecturer in Acting Techniques and Voice & Speech at the City Literary Institute in London. He has taught Drama and English in schools, led many courses on aspects of the performing arts and held master classes in Europe in puppet manipulation.
His specific interest is in the original Punch & Judy show, and this led to him becoming a subject of the Channel 4 documentary ‘Consuming Passions’. For over ten years he presented Punch & Judy on the beaches and within the holiday establishments of West Penwith in Cornwall. He has been the Chairman of the Punch & Judy Fellowship, is also a member of the Punch & Judy College of Professors, and has travelled internationally with his show.
In writing Figures in a Frame Dan Bishop reflects on the history of the famous show, particularly by introducing Giovanni Piccini into the story, who was probably the first to adopt the street tradition in England. At the same time he also utilises his excellent historical knowledge of 18th and 19th century London and France to give readers a real flavour of the period.
Now in his late 70s, Dan Bishop is still proud to perform the Punch & Judy show in West Devon, keeping the 350+ year old tradition alive and well.
