What an experience it would have been to meet a genius of the stature of Albert Einstein, the man who solved the riddle of the universe - E=MC2.

At Corsham Town Hall on Thursday evening, in An Audience with Albert Einstein, we had the next best thing in actor Gary Barber.

Claiming to be a clone of the great man he invited us into his study and imparted the secrets of his life in an interactive 'lecture'.

The capacity audience loved him and learned at the same time. There were balloons, demonstrating scientific principals with the help of the audience, especially its younger members.

There was a compulsory raffle for which the winner had to join the professor in his study and answer questions to prove she had been paying attention thus far - she hadn't, but got the prize anyway.

There was serious stuff about his early life and struggles and how his ground-breaking theory of relativity was written on the backs of old envelopes because he couldn't afford proper paper.

In later life he became a more political animal campaigning for peace, horrified that his contribution to America's development of the atom bomb resulted in it being dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

There was also a little spice - he had a love child, who was never traced after her adoption, and ten mistresses while married to his second wife.

It was true to say that his contribution to humanity was immense while his treatment of the individuals in his own life fell way short of perfect.

It was a fascinating and fun evening, a delightful and well researched performance by Gary Barber.