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SHORT HISTORY OF FORKBEARD FANTASY
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
shows tour the length and breadth of the U.K. and they have appeared at
festivals as far afield as Mexico, Columbia, Poland and Canada 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 has recently finished 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 of experimental mainly 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 and Beckett , to name a few.
The early seventies saw a great surge in mixing media in all artforms. There were only a handful of venues for this new form of work. Most of the 'mainstream' theatres shut their doors hoping it would all just go away. As a result most of it happened in clubs, bars, galleries, arts labs, outdoor festivals and on the streets. But its growing popularity couldn't be ignored .
Since those days Forkbeard, now formed over thirty years ago, continue to go from strength to strength producing their own unique style of performance ..... comic, surreal, and highly visual which increasingly explores film as an interactive dynamic.