Forkbeard Fantasy

Forkbeard Fantasy is a British multimedia arts company, based in Devon. It began as an experimental performance art group in 1974, founded by brothers Chris and Tim Britton.

Between 1974 and 2010 it made touring theatre productions, largely performed by Chris and Tim. ^[1] In 1979, they were joined by Penny Saunders, a designer and maker, who went on to create most of Forkbeard's extravagant costumes and props. In the late 1980s they were also joined by Ed Jobling who became a core cast member and the company's technical wizard. ^[2] Forkbeard continued to create interactive exhibitions, specially commissioned exhibits, short animation films as well performing one-off 'Brittonioni' shows and getting involved in a wide range of community based events until finally dissolving the company in 2024. Lyn Gardner, reviewing The Colour of Nonsense (2010) in The Guardian, described the company as long having had a "mixture of madness and creativity". ^[3]

Touring theatre productions

• The Rubber God Show, 1975
• The Government Warning Show, 1976
• Men Only, 1977
• The Cranium Show, 1978
• On An Uncertain Insect, 1979
• The Clone Show, 1980
• Springtime, 1982
• The Brontosaurus Show, 1983
• Plants, Vampires and Crazy Kings 1985
• Myth, 1986
• Hypochondria, 1987
• A Serious Leak, 1989
• Invasion of the Bloopies, 1991
• The Little Match Girl, 1994
• The Fall of the House of Usherettes, 1995, ^[4]
• The Barbers of Surreal, 1998 ^{[5] [6]}
• The Brain, 1999 ^[7]
• Yallery Brown, 2000 – with Sean Aita ^[8]
• Frankenstein: a Truly Monstrous Experiment, 2001 ^[9]
• Shooting Shakespeare, 2004 ^{[10] [11]}
• Rough Magyck, 2006 ^{[12] [13]}
• Invisible Bonfires, 2007 ^{[14] [15]}
• The Colour of Nonsense, 2010 ^{[16] [17]}

References

1. Farmer, David (13 May 2015). "Forkbeard Fantasy - Multimedia Theatre of the Absurd - 1". Drama Resource. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
2. Bristol, University of. "Forkbeard Fantasy". www.bristol.ac.uk. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
3. Gardner, Lyn (19 March 2010). "The Colour of Nonsense". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 30 May 2023.
4. "The Fall Of The House Of Usherettes, Tobacco Factory, Bristol". The Independent. 2 October 2005.
5. "Reviews: Mad, bad and atmospheric". The Independent. 11 March 1998.
6. "See Forkbeard Fantasy". The Independent. 28 February 1998.
7. "Theatre: A tale of two hemispheres". The Independent. 25 November 1999.
8. "Yallery Brown". The Guardian. 1 November 2000. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 30 May 2023.
9. Gardner, Lyn (17 October 2001). "My God, we've created a monster". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 30 May 2023.
10. Mahoney, Elisabeth (23 October 2004). "Shooting Shakespeare". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 30 May 2023.
11. "Tights, camera, action". The Independent. 21 October 2004.
12. "Forkbeard Fantasy's weirdly topical". Manchester Evening News. 18 April 2010. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
13. "Fall Of The House Of Usherettes, Corn Exchange, Brighton, until Saturday, November 5". The Argus. 3 November 2005. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
14. "Invisible Bonfires". BBC. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
15. Mahoney, Elisabeth (27 September 2007). "Invisible Bonfires". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 30 May 2023.
16. Cook, Mark; Gardner, Lyn (8 October 2010). "This week's new theatre". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 30 May 2023.
17. "The Colour of Nonsense, Southbank Centre, review". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 30 May 2023.

'Staging The Screen' by Greg Giesekam (Palgrave 2007)

External links

• Official website