Chris Britton of Forkbeard Fantasy will present the Last Night at the View from Here film festival on Friday, December 4. Here’s some more details about the energetic, fun and ground-breaking theatre company
Forkbeard Fantasy is a theatre and film company who have been touring their shows, films, exhibitions and special events since the mid-1970’s. Their theatre shows combine comedy with special effects, wild mechanical sets, outsize characters and their unique trademark interactive mix of film, animation and cartoon live on stage.
Their productions tour the length and breadth of the UK and they have appeared across the world from Argentina to Poland as well as all over Europe.
As well as their theatre shows, the company creates and tours elaborate interactive exhibitions, films and animated cartoons. Their hugely popular retrospective exhibition Forkbeard: Architects of Fantasy enjoyed a two year run at London’s Theatre Museum attracting over 380,000 visitors.
Originally formed in 1974 by brothers Tim and Chris Britton, they were joined in 1980 by Penny Saunders and by Ed Jobling in 1987. Janice May, Deborah Harrison and Robin Thorburn are also now part of the Company.
Forkbeard stems from a long tradition of experimental visual performance called, in the seventies, Performance Art. They were inspired by Kantor, Beuys, The People Show, Phantom Captain and by such varied influences as The Goons, Lewis Carrol, Edward Lear, The Bonzo Dog Doodah Band, Flann O’Brien, Tintin, Zappa, Beefheart and Beckett… just to name a few!
One of the main trademarks of a Forkbeard show has long been the interaction between film and live performance. It’s a technique they were pioneering and perfecting as far back as the mid 1970s. In its simplest form it’s the trick of merging from stage into screen and engaging in dialogue across what they call The Celluloid Divide. This technique can now be widely seen on the stage.
For further information about the company visit the Forkbeard Fantasy website and you can check out their work on the Forkbeard Fantasy Youtube site.
