Einstein memorably spoke of riding the beam of ‘light' and in The Brittonioni Brothers – Experiments in Contraprojection Forkbeard Fantasy came closer to achieving this than most. Admittedly the light source is that of their projector rather than the sun, but the universe created in the Royal Court's Theatre Upstairs was every bit as chaotic as the real universe, though our world is seldom as achingly funny as this show. The hitherto impenetrable barrier of the cinema screen was breached time and time again as Forkbeard Fantasy's eclectic blend of film footage, puppetry and slapstick left logic in tatters. The audience was convinced that in a world where everything is implausible nothing is impossible.
The show was programmed on the same night as the People Show and an unseemly dash from the main house to the theatre upstairs enabled one to watch both these shows on the same night and whether by accident or design, they made for a particularly satisfying combination. Both complemented and illuminated the other in a way that neither could have anticipated but which, to an audience, made for an unusual and effective evening of entertainment.