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Incarnations: Three Plays by Clive Barker
Legions of Clive Barker fans will relish three early works from the wicked imagination of one of the best-known fantasy/horror writers of the decade.
Incarnations is a cross-disciplinary marvel, a great, glorious feast of the imagination taking us on a journey through wildly varied theatrical and emotional terrains, from the pain and intrigue of domestic transgressions to the monstrous horrors wrought by war; from lustful garden liasons to subterranean cannibalism. Barker uses unpredictable rhythms that draw less from theatrical convention and more from life itself, with apocalyptic spectacle and intimate reality sharing the stage as equal and sometimes indistinguishable partners.
The three works that make up Incarnations - Colossus; Frankenstein in Love, or the Life of Death; and The History of the Devil, or Scenes from a Pretended Life -- combine the shock and magic and heartbreak that has made Barker's unique vision a compelling force in all the media he has touched.
Incarnations is a cross-disciplinary marvel, a great, glorious feast of the imagination taking us on a journey through wildly varied theatrical and emotional terrains, from the pain and intrigue of domestic transgressions to the monstrous horrors wrought by war; from lustful garden liasons to subterranean cannibalism. Barker uses unpredictable rhythms that draw less from theatrical convention and more from life itself, with apocalyptic spectacle and intimate reality sharing the stage as equal and sometimes indistinguishable partners.
The three works that make up Incarnations - Colossus; Frankenstein in Love, or the Life of Death; and The History of the Devil, or Scenes from a Pretended Life -- combine the shock and magic and heartbreak that has made Barker's unique vision a compelling force in all the media he has touched.
384 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1995
16 people are currently reading
905 people want to read
About the author
Clive Barker
706 books15.2k followersClive Barker was born in Liverpool, England, the son of Joan Rubie (née Revill), a painter and school welfare officer, and Leonard Barker, a personnel director for an industrial relations firm. Educated at Dovedale Primary School and Quarry Bank High School, he studied English and Philosophy at Liverpool University and his picture now hangs in the entrance hallway to the Philosophy Department. It was in Liverpool in 1975 that he met his first partner, John Gregson, with whom he lived until 1986. Barker's second long-term relationship, with photographer David Armstrong, ended in 2009.
In 2003, Clive Barker received The Davidson/Valentini Award at the 15th GLAAD Media Awards. This award is presented "to an openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender individual who has made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for any of those communities". While Barker is critical of organized religion, he has stated that he is a believer in both God and the afterlife, and that the Bible influences his work.
Fans have noticed of late that Barker's voice has become gravelly and coarse. He says in a December 2008 online interview that this is due to polyps in his throat which were so severe that a doctor told him he was taking in ten percent of the air he was supposed to have been getting. He has had two surgeries to remove them and believes his resultant voice is an improvement over how it was prior to the surgeries. He said he did not have cancer and has given up cigars. On August 27, 2010, Barker underwent surgery yet again to remove new polyp growths from his throat. In early February 2012 Barker fell into a coma after a dentist visit led to blood poisoning. Barker remained in a coma for eleven days but eventually came out of it. Fans were notified on his Twitter page about some of the experience and that Barker was recovering after the ordeal, but left with many strange visions.
Barker is one of the leading authors of contemporary horror/fantasy, writing in the horror genre early in his career, mostly in the form of short stories (collected in Books of Blood 1 – 6), and the Faustian novel The Damnation Game (1985). Later he moved towards modern-day fantasy and urban fantasy with horror elements in Weaveworld (1987), The Great and Secret Show (1989), the world-spanning Imajica (1991) and Sacrament (1996), bringing in the deeper, richer concepts of reality, the nature of the mind and dreams, and the power of words and memories.
Barker has a keen interest in movie production, although his films have received mixed receptions. He wrote the screenplays for Underworld (aka Transmutations – 1985) and Rawhead Rex (1986), both directed by George Pavlou. Displeased by how his material was handled, he moved to directing with Hellraiser (1987), based on his novella The Hellbound Heart. His early movies, the shorts The Forbidden and Salome, are experimental art movies with surrealist elements, which have been re-released together to moderate critical acclaim. After his film Nightbreed (Cabal), which was widely considered to be a flop, Barker returned to write and direct Lord of Illusions. Barker was an executive producer of the film Gods and Monsters, which received major critical acclaim.
Barker is a prolific visual artist working in a variety of media, often illustrating his own books. His paintings have been seen first on the covers of his official fan club magazine, Dread, published by Fantaco in the early Nineties, as well on the covers of the collections of his plays, Incarnations (1995) and Forms of Heaven (1996), as well as on the second printing of the original UK publications of his Books of Blood series.
A longtime comics fan, Barker achieved his dream of publishing his own superhero books when Marvel Comics launched the Razorline imprint in 1993. Based on detailed premises, titles and lead characters he created specifically for this, the four interrelated titles — set outside the Marvel universe — were Ectokid,
In 2003, Clive Barker received The Davidson/Valentini Award at the 15th GLAAD Media Awards. This award is presented "to an openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender individual who has made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for any of those communities". While Barker is critical of organized religion, he has stated that he is a believer in both God and the afterlife, and that the Bible influences his work.
Fans have noticed of late that Barker's voice has become gravelly and coarse. He says in a December 2008 online interview that this is due to polyps in his throat which were so severe that a doctor told him he was taking in ten percent of the air he was supposed to have been getting. He has had two surgeries to remove them and believes his resultant voice is an improvement over how it was prior to the surgeries. He said he did not have cancer and has given up cigars. On August 27, 2010, Barker underwent surgery yet again to remove new polyp growths from his throat. In early February 2012 Barker fell into a coma after a dentist visit led to blood poisoning. Barker remained in a coma for eleven days but eventually came out of it. Fans were notified on his Twitter page about some of the experience and that Barker was recovering after the ordeal, but left with many strange visions.
Barker is one of the leading authors of contemporary horror/fantasy, writing in the horror genre early in his career, mostly in the form of short stories (collected in Books of Blood 1 – 6), and the Faustian novel The Damnation Game (1985). Later he moved towards modern-day fantasy and urban fantasy with horror elements in Weaveworld (1987), The Great and Secret Show (1989), the world-spanning Imajica (1991) and Sacrament (1996), bringing in the deeper, richer concepts of reality, the nature of the mind and dreams, and the power of words and memories.
Barker has a keen interest in movie production, although his films have received mixed receptions. He wrote the screenplays for Underworld (aka Transmutations – 1985) and Rawhead Rex (1986), both directed by George Pavlou. Displeased by how his material was handled, he moved to directing with Hellraiser (1987), based on his novella The Hellbound Heart. His early movies, the shorts The Forbidden and Salome, are experimental art movies with surrealist elements, which have been re-released together to moderate critical acclaim. After his film Nightbreed (Cabal), which was widely considered to be a flop, Barker returned to write and direct Lord of Illusions. Barker was an executive producer of the film Gods and Monsters, which received major critical acclaim.
Barker is a prolific visual artist working in a variety of media, often illustrating his own books. His paintings have been seen first on the covers of his official fan club magazine, Dread, published by Fantaco in the early Nineties, as well on the covers of the collections of his plays, Incarnations (1995) and Forms of Heaven (1996), as well as on the second printing of the original UK publications of his Books of Blood series.
A longtime comics fan, Barker achieved his dream of publishing his own superhero books when Marvel Comics launched the Razorline imprint in 1993. Based on detailed premises, titles and lead characters he created specifically for this, the four interrelated titles — set outside the Marvel universe — were Ectokid,
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
June 23, 2025
Thought-provoking explorations of the human spirit, the three plays collected in this volume certainly display the dark, somewhat cynical, somewhat subversive, sentimentality that Barker is known for. I should state that my star rating, for what that’s worth, is based on the experience of reading these plays, and I imagine the experience of the performances, since they were written to be performed, would be much higher. But there is an artistic voice needed to translate the plays from the page to the stage that will bring with it a necessary ingredient to really let these plays shine. In one of his introduction Barker says it is not a morality play but a history, which is well and good as far as artistic ethos goes, but the plays do read like morality plays. That is to say they all have ensemble casts, and we don’t follow an individual character or group of characters for any sort of interior journey. Instead, we are witness, with the fourth wall being broken in each play so that we are directly addressed, to the monstrosity of the human spirit, that self-same spirit that is one of lust, despair, agony, joy, ecstasy, and rage. Each play feels like an assembly of tableaus, all circling and exploring human nature in the face of desperation. While there is a darkness to the plays there is a quiet optimism, too. It isn’t that humanity rallies in the end to show off its better nature, to cast aside petty self-importance and embrace any sort of triumphant egalitarianism, no, certainly not, but even amidst the bleakest reflection of human behavior there is always a voice questioning the darkness, a light of reason and concern that may not be bright enough to banish all of the shadows but is certainly enough to serve as a beacon.
Reading these plays reminded me of reading Ionesco, not that Barker is working in the same absurdist modality as Ionesco but that my experience as a reader, trying to see all of the moving pieces that occasionally seem random and disjointed and wondering how they fit together, and not always succeeding but having a quiet confidence that a good performance of these pieces would make connections and ideas more relevant and experientially obvious, that experience is similar. If you’re a fan of Barker or of stage productions in general then these are certainly engaging. If you have only a passing or middling interest in either, then these may not read as especially impactful to you. That has nothing to say about the quality of the plays but more the style of how they’re written and what our individual expectations are of plays-as-literature (as opposed to plays-as-performance).
Reading these plays reminded me of reading Ionesco, not that Barker is working in the same absurdist modality as Ionesco but that my experience as a reader, trying to see all of the moving pieces that occasionally seem random and disjointed and wondering how they fit together, and not always succeeding but having a quiet confidence that a good performance of these pieces would make connections and ideas more relevant and experientially obvious, that experience is similar. If you’re a fan of Barker or of stage productions in general then these are certainly engaging. If you have only a passing or middling interest in either, then these may not read as especially impactful to you. That has nothing to say about the quality of the plays but more the style of how they’re written and what our individual expectations are of plays-as-literature (as opposed to plays-as-performance).
March 21, 2011
Three dark plays, each with its own unique (and bloody) story.
Colossus, though horrible, comforted me somewhat at the end, since it somehow gave me a trace of hope concerning the characters. It was pretty violent, and tested my stomach on how much blood I can imagine... And perhaps even preparing me for the other 2 stories in this book. This play is pretty realistic in its own sense, though.
Frankenstein in Love is kind of sweet, although it made me flinch so many times, especially during the wedding scene. I've read Frankenstein, it's true, but after reading this play, I feel like I should revisit the novel. This story is truly gruesome, and has the traces of alchemy and magic that Mary Shelley's story had.
I'm in the process of reading the last one. Hope I can finish it soon... The dark violence of these stories haunts my evenings.
Update:
The History of the Devil, the last of the three, was not quite as physically violent. As one indoctrinated in the teachings of the Catholic Church, I have to say that this story came as a shock to me, but it was something interesting to chew on, what with the humanizing of Lucifer himself and the story of his journeyings as he walked the earth.
All in all, I'm giving this a five since the macabre imagery gave me chills that lasted all throughout my duration of reading it. (I was only too glad it ended with a somewhat more sombre play, so I didn't have to feel too scared afterwards :P) A great read, although maybe something I don't want to go through again for a while, seeing that I'm such a scaredy-cat. I haven't read much of this genre though, so I don't think I'm the best person to rate this.
Colossus, though horrible, comforted me somewhat at the end, since it somehow gave me a trace of hope concerning the characters. It was pretty violent, and tested my stomach on how much blood I can imagine... And perhaps even preparing me for the other 2 stories in this book. This play is pretty realistic in its own sense, though.
Frankenstein in Love is kind of sweet, although it made me flinch so many times, especially during the wedding scene. I've read Frankenstein, it's true, but after reading this play, I feel like I should revisit the novel. This story is truly gruesome, and has the traces of alchemy and magic that Mary Shelley's story had.
I'm in the process of reading the last one. Hope I can finish it soon... The dark violence of these stories haunts my evenings.
Update:
The History of the Devil, the last of the three, was not quite as physically violent. As one indoctrinated in the teachings of the Catholic Church, I have to say that this story came as a shock to me, but it was something interesting to chew on, what with the humanizing of Lucifer himself and the story of his journeyings as he walked the earth.
All in all, I'm giving this a five since the macabre imagery gave me chills that lasted all throughout my duration of reading it. (I was only too glad it ended with a somewhat more sombre play, so I didn't have to feel too scared afterwards :P) A great read, although maybe something I don't want to go through again for a while, seeing that I'm such a scaredy-cat. I haven't read much of this genre though, so I don't think I'm the best person to rate this.
October 30, 2021
“Story-telling has always been for me a process of putting on skins; of living lives and dying deaths that belong to somebody else. And the more unlike me I look with these borrowed faces the more interested I am to see the world through their eyes…I am venturing where my daily life would never take me. I am, if you will, addicted to incarnation.”
This is a collection of three plays written by Clive Barker. The first is called “Colossus” where a destruction has brought down a small country house near Madrid. Here the painter Goya was at work on a portrait when the tragedy occurred. The place is in chaos and the rich and ruling classes come to rebuild what’s left. Whilst doing this several betrayals, discoveries, grief and seductions are revealed. This play was full of twists turns and reveals that I didn’t even realise I was approaching the end. I enjoyed this story based on Goya and how inspired Barker was by his art when writing this.
The second is called “Frankenstein in Love” is a story bathed in all kinds of depravity from cannibalism, necrophilia, human experiments torture etc. Barker in the introduction did say he wanted to push the limits when writing this inspired story from the classic and that is exactly what he does with this.
The last play is called “ “The History of the Devil” this one takes place as a trial where the Devil is being charged and we are presented a case and witnesses to his behaviours and antics. In a sense we are the jury watching this unfold. This was my favourite of the three. The devil is a master manipulator and in this in a dark comedic way I couldn’t help but like him however Barker does shed that light where we are shown a part of the devil is in all of us 😈
This was a quite a different reading experience and my first time reading Clive Barker’s plays. What I appreciated was the commentary on how he wrote the plays and what influenced him at that time. Quite an insightful read.
This is a collection of three plays written by Clive Barker. The first is called “Colossus” where a destruction has brought down a small country house near Madrid. Here the painter Goya was at work on a portrait when the tragedy occurred. The place is in chaos and the rich and ruling classes come to rebuild what’s left. Whilst doing this several betrayals, discoveries, grief and seductions are revealed. This play was full of twists turns and reveals that I didn’t even realise I was approaching the end. I enjoyed this story based on Goya and how inspired Barker was by his art when writing this.
The second is called “Frankenstein in Love” is a story bathed in all kinds of depravity from cannibalism, necrophilia, human experiments torture etc. Barker in the introduction did say he wanted to push the limits when writing this inspired story from the classic and that is exactly what he does with this.
The last play is called “ “The History of the Devil” this one takes place as a trial where the Devil is being charged and we are presented a case and witnesses to his behaviours and antics. In a sense we are the jury watching this unfold. This was my favourite of the three. The devil is a master manipulator and in this in a dark comedic way I couldn’t help but like him however Barker does shed that light where we are shown a part of the devil is in all of us 😈
This was a quite a different reading experience and my first time reading Clive Barker’s plays. What I appreciated was the commentary on how he wrote the plays and what influenced him at that time. Quite an insightful read.
Read
May 4, 2022DNF. I tried. I'll admit I don't connect with theatre scripts. Would love to see them in production though.
September 1, 2013
The best collection of Barker plays
Arguably the best play of this collection is The History of the Devil. Where the other two plays are a nice potent dip into the macabre, the Devil is a mind-blowing experience that gets you where it hurts the most: your conscience. What is evil? What is good? Can we judge anything? It isn't surprising that even Dante has a cameo role in this play.
I would love to see this play in production somewhere near me. Although it would not be as visually appealing as the other two plays in Incarnations, since it lacks scenes of cannibalism and dismemberment for instance, it surely must be a wonderful experience to see the actual Devil on stage.
Nice to know is that the actor that gave live to the Devil in the World Premiere of The History of the Devil as presented by the Dog Company at The York and Albany Theatre, London, in 1979 was none other than Doug Bradley, the guy that plays Pinhead in the famous Hellraiser movies.
As a conclusion I can reveal that the end of the play as a very nice twist to it. This collection shows Clive barker at his best. A must read for all fans of the macabre.
Arguably the best play of this collection is The History of the Devil. Where the other two plays are a nice potent dip into the macabre, the Devil is a mind-blowing experience that gets you where it hurts the most: your conscience. What is evil? What is good? Can we judge anything? It isn't surprising that even Dante has a cameo role in this play.
I would love to see this play in production somewhere near me. Although it would not be as visually appealing as the other two plays in Incarnations, since it lacks scenes of cannibalism and dismemberment for instance, it surely must be a wonderful experience to see the actual Devil on stage.
Nice to know is that the actor that gave live to the Devil in the World Premiere of The History of the Devil as presented by the Dog Company at The York and Albany Theatre, London, in 1979 was none other than Doug Bradley, the guy that plays Pinhead in the famous Hellraiser movies.
As a conclusion I can reveal that the end of the play as a very nice twist to it. This collection shows Clive barker at his best. A must read for all fans of the macabre.
January 11, 2012
Colossus**** The type of thing George Bernard Shaw might have written had he grown up reading Edgar Allen Poe. It had some interesting moments that kept me engaged. Probably the most amazing thing about this play is the sheer number of sub-plots that he manages to balance. This is one of those plays, after reading, one can't help but wonder if it was ever actually staged.
Frankenstein in Love*** An inventive and gory reimagining of the Frankenstein story in Central America. Loved the premise that this was a story told by a dead palm reader of a story she had only read on the hands of her murderer. I did feel, however, That particular character became horribly inconsistent both but in her character's behavior and the reality established for her.
THe History of the Devil**** An interesting concept, the trial of the devil. I especially liked the way the court room was handled as well as the witnesses manner of retelling of the case. I can help but wish that the dialogue was a little sharper.
September 11, 2010
A trio of very dark and unsettling plays a 180 turn from those found in Forms of Heaven. I wish there were more theater companies willing to put on these play the most performed being The History of the Devil the most conventional and least challenging of the plays. Frankenstein in Love a great macabre piece that would be great to see dramatized but as with everything thats unique and challenging the audience my be limited but would be a great piece to see in the theater. Well, worth reading by any means and better then any horror fiction written today that are caught up in trends if it doesn't have vampires no one cares. Horror needs to break out of it bonds and do something new it needs another Books of Blood to show them the way and once again deal with issues of love, birth, death and after life in meaningful ways.
August 1, 2013
A collection of three plays written by Clive Barker early in his career before he became a published novelist. The first, Colossus, is about a house in Spain that is bombed. The painter Goya was there and thought to have been killed by others looking through the ruins. Flows well but not horrifying as most of Barker's works are.
The second play, Frankenstein in Love, is subtitled a Grand Guignol Romance. The subtitle fits the story very well. Lots of disturbing imagery in this one but excellent. The third play, A History of the Devil, is a synopsis of the evil done by Lucifer as he is placed on trial. Another very good work.
A good choice for Barker fans. For the squeamish, run away ....
The second play, Frankenstein in Love, is subtitled a Grand Guignol Romance. The subtitle fits the story very well. Lots of disturbing imagery in this one but excellent. The third play, A History of the Devil, is a synopsis of the evil done by Lucifer as he is placed on trial. Another very good work.
A good choice for Barker fans. For the squeamish, run away ....
June 21, 2021
What poisonous, rotten things are here! And yet, like all that which rots and decays, how sweet and enticing the aromas are...
Barker has always plucked from the orchard of the macabre for his novels and his short stories, but these three fantasies are a different fruit altogether. There's always something to be said for the paradoxical freedom that limitations can bring (such as working within the artificial constraints of a staged performance) and yet here Barker cavalierly supersedes those limitations in flagrant, impossible ways - and the result is darkly triumphant. These plays will haunt the minds of directors and designers alike: there's no way someone of the theatre world can read something like this and not immediately turn their minds to the insane challenge that "creating a (wearable) suit of skin" might pose. Such challenges are almost always rewarding to the theatre-goer, especially if they are met with cunning (and a certain amount of resource).
"Colossus," the first of this triptych, is a gory, ghastly comedy of errors involving the painter Francisco Goya, set in a bombed-out shell of a great house in Spain during the Napoleonic Wars. It is built in the classic mode, seeming to verge on operatic, but without the singing. It reads like Don Giovanni crossed with the symbolism of Garcia Lorca's "Blood Wedding;" like a Gothic horror along the lines of Castle of Otranto, but written by Molière. I say "comedy of errors" because the play seems to hinge on the madness of artificiality - roles are swapped, identities are confused, insanity can happen at the drop of a hat, and the dust of war chokes anyone who dares draw breath. The dialogue is dense, and the cast of characters thick, but to the author's credit, the scene never feels clogged or labored. At times, the obscenities and violence feel a bit gratuitous, but we're also talking about a particularly bloody period of history, in a particularly destructive era. Not to mention, it's the author's penchant to amplify gore to sublime heights, and some of the violent ends that these characters meet are delightfully squirm-inducing. The play ends on a deft and beautiful note, one that lifts the play out of all the carnality and chaos, and even puts me in mind of the end of Homer's Odyssey. Sumptuous and devastating.
"Frankenstein in Love", subtitled "A Grand Guignol Romance," is a antic, gleeful caterwaul of a play whose poetics put me instantly in mind of Tennessee Williams, but whose events belong more to The Island of Dr. Moreau. At the outset, the names and locations evoke something lush, tropical, perhaps a third-world country of Spanish influence, and with a rickety autocracy that changes hands more often than a one-dollar bill. The characters are deranged, mostly due to circumstance and forces beyond their control, and all of them are trapped in a universe of sheer torment: one where death itself has been toppled from its throne. This is a fleshy, mottled piece that takes great delight in courting disaster: it's practically a moribund waltz for its first act, and the dance only devolves from there until it's difficult to discern dancing from writhing. There are, however, moments of beauty so intense that it can cause one to wince, even and especially amidst a panoply of the hideous such as this. Again, as in "Colossus," the play never loses its through-line, even among such a heady mix of themes and motifs, and the conclusion feels satisfying, even earned.
The final play, "The History of the Devil," was perhaps my least favorite of the three, but one which I'm sure will linger with me for a long time after. I think this is due to the fact that the trope of "putting the Devil on trial" has been around for a long, long time, and even with Barker's fresh take on it, it still feels a bit hackneyed around the edges. The characterization, however, is phenomenal, and the play does accomplish what it sets out to do - which is question whether or not the Devil is guilty of adversely affecting mankind to evil, or if his crimes have been exaggerated by history. If the verdict falls in the Devil's favor, then, so saith the laws of what is, he will be allowed back into Heaven. In this, Barker cleverly uses just the right amount of Brechtian device and doesn't press too hard into the gimmick of metafiction, creating instead a shocking amount of "sympathy for the Devil." Through the various witness testimonies, we get visions of the Devil and his various interactions throughout history, from the intimate and heretofore-unrelated (a forest in Russia, after Lucifer's Fall) to the grandiose and well-recorded (walking with Jesus in the desert). The conclusion is actually quite clever, and features an imaginative twist that most writers would give their right hand to have come up with.
I'm not surprised that a man of Barker's sheer virtuosity has come up with these plays, nor am I shocked at the amount of depravity or macabre imagery. What am I surprised by (and perhaps I shouldn't have been) was the amount of depth and emotion that bleeds out of each one. Despite the carnage, despite the surreality and grotesquerie; despite how much someone might protest at the "gratuitousness" of the violence and blasphemy, there is something uniquely human and beautiful buried in these plays.
Theatre is something which searches for resonance in echoes, and with each performance, fights to keep the echo from fading. With "Incarnations," Barker not only keeps the echoes alive, but amplifies and even distorts them, and that's only on the page. I can't imagine what seeing something like this live would be like.
Barker has always plucked from the orchard of the macabre for his novels and his short stories, but these three fantasies are a different fruit altogether. There's always something to be said for the paradoxical freedom that limitations can bring (such as working within the artificial constraints of a staged performance) and yet here Barker cavalierly supersedes those limitations in flagrant, impossible ways - and the result is darkly triumphant. These plays will haunt the minds of directors and designers alike: there's no way someone of the theatre world can read something like this and not immediately turn their minds to the insane challenge that "creating a (wearable) suit of skin" might pose. Such challenges are almost always rewarding to the theatre-goer, especially if they are met with cunning (and a certain amount of resource).
"Colossus," the first of this triptych, is a gory, ghastly comedy of errors involving the painter Francisco Goya, set in a bombed-out shell of a great house in Spain during the Napoleonic Wars. It is built in the classic mode, seeming to verge on operatic, but without the singing. It reads like Don Giovanni crossed with the symbolism of Garcia Lorca's "Blood Wedding;" like a Gothic horror along the lines of Castle of Otranto, but written by Molière. I say "comedy of errors" because the play seems to hinge on the madness of artificiality - roles are swapped, identities are confused, insanity can happen at the drop of a hat, and the dust of war chokes anyone who dares draw breath. The dialogue is dense, and the cast of characters thick, but to the author's credit, the scene never feels clogged or labored. At times, the obscenities and violence feel a bit gratuitous, but we're also talking about a particularly bloody period of history, in a particularly destructive era. Not to mention, it's the author's penchant to amplify gore to sublime heights, and some of the violent ends that these characters meet are delightfully squirm-inducing. The play ends on a deft and beautiful note, one that lifts the play out of all the carnality and chaos, and even puts me in mind of the end of Homer's Odyssey. Sumptuous and devastating.
"Frankenstein in Love", subtitled "A Grand Guignol Romance," is a antic, gleeful caterwaul of a play whose poetics put me instantly in mind of Tennessee Williams, but whose events belong more to The Island of Dr. Moreau. At the outset, the names and locations evoke something lush, tropical, perhaps a third-world country of Spanish influence, and with a rickety autocracy that changes hands more often than a one-dollar bill. The characters are deranged, mostly due to circumstance and forces beyond their control, and all of them are trapped in a universe of sheer torment: one where death itself has been toppled from its throne. This is a fleshy, mottled piece that takes great delight in courting disaster: it's practically a moribund waltz for its first act, and the dance only devolves from there until it's difficult to discern dancing from writhing. There are, however, moments of beauty so intense that it can cause one to wince, even and especially amidst a panoply of the hideous such as this. Again, as in "Colossus," the play never loses its through-line, even among such a heady mix of themes and motifs, and the conclusion feels satisfying, even earned.
The final play, "The History of the Devil," was perhaps my least favorite of the three, but one which I'm sure will linger with me for a long time after. I think this is due to the fact that the trope of "putting the Devil on trial" has been around for a long, long time, and even with Barker's fresh take on it, it still feels a bit hackneyed around the edges. The characterization, however, is phenomenal, and the play does accomplish what it sets out to do - which is question whether or not the Devil is guilty of adversely affecting mankind to evil, or if his crimes have been exaggerated by history. If the verdict falls in the Devil's favor, then, so saith the laws of what is, he will be allowed back into Heaven. In this, Barker cleverly uses just the right amount of Brechtian device and doesn't press too hard into the gimmick of metafiction, creating instead a shocking amount of "sympathy for the Devil." Through the various witness testimonies, we get visions of the Devil and his various interactions throughout history, from the intimate and heretofore-unrelated (a forest in Russia, after Lucifer's Fall) to the grandiose and well-recorded (walking with Jesus in the desert). The conclusion is actually quite clever, and features an imaginative twist that most writers would give their right hand to have come up with.
I'm not surprised that a man of Barker's sheer virtuosity has come up with these plays, nor am I shocked at the amount of depravity or macabre imagery. What am I surprised by (and perhaps I shouldn't have been) was the amount of depth and emotion that bleeds out of each one. Despite the carnage, despite the surreality and grotesquerie; despite how much someone might protest at the "gratuitousness" of the violence and blasphemy, there is something uniquely human and beautiful buried in these plays.
Theatre is something which searches for resonance in echoes, and with each performance, fights to keep the echo from fading. With "Incarnations," Barker not only keeps the echoes alive, but amplifies and even distorts them, and that's only on the page. I can't imagine what seeing something like this live would be like.
September 2, 2012
For someone who doesn't regularly read plays, this book was extremely satisfying. In this pages, are three straight plays by Clive Barker. These plays are dark, weird, and sometimes humorous.
However, I must admit, it is hard for me to imagine any of these plays actually being preformed, live on stage. I hope to be proven wrong one day. I would love to see a theater put on one of these plays!
If you are a Clive Barker fan, you will love these plays!
However, I must admit, it is hard for me to imagine any of these plays actually being preformed, live on stage. I hope to be proven wrong one day. I would love to see a theater put on one of these plays!
If you are a Clive Barker fan, you will love these plays!
October 8, 2009
Three excellent and well-crafted plays, epic in scope, horrific in aesthetic, oddly romantic and redemptive. Uniquely drawn gay and female characters, defying cliche and giving the actor much to work with. A definite read for any theater folks looking for unusual plays with which to break the local mold.
Read
October 27, 2009Not giving a star rating because I picked it up solely for the "The History of the Devil" on recommendation of someone who'd listened to a radio play version of it...but I couldn't get into it. I barely read a dozen pages before being just bored. Did absolutely nothing for me.
January 5, 2018
I can't imagine these plays ever being produced! They are crazy as you would imagine Clive Barker theater to be. Read this again because I remembered one was about Goya and my recent trip to the Prado made me think of them. While not my favorite, they get 10 stars for imagination.
November 25, 2007
Back away from the performance media. I'm serious, Clive.
March 25, 2008
Some really dark stories from a horror dude.
December 8, 2013
I've always been a big fan of Clive Barker. I love his limitless imagination. This book contains three plays from the beginning of his career. Interesting, but only for the fans.
January 21, 2016
Barker at his Barker-iest and best. Highly recommended. I'd love to see these plays put on.
Want to read
July 17, 2016one of the main reasons why i want to finish my to read list so fast....
September 5, 2021
As someone who has read all Barker's books, seen all the movies and appreciated his art in all its forms, these scripts were still a revelation.
Plays were his thing long before he became a novelist, and here Barker shows us a real flair and talent long before he became the writer we all know and love.
These plays are all packed with farcical humour, elements of tragedy, drama, romance, erotica and... yes... liberal doses of horror. The Barker we know is here, but in embryonic form.
Collosus is a farce, based on the imagining of a day in the later life of Goya. The scenes here are often horrifying, but always with a reason to laugh scattered throughout.
Frankenstein in Love is more of a straight forward horror, with tragedy smattered through its veins. The creature is uniquely terrifying, especially when viewed through a modern political lens.
History of the Devil is a tour de force, and a typically Barker subject to tackle. Let's put the Devil on trial, and accuse ourselves in the process. It's truly genius in its simplicity.
The great thing about these plays is that he has an eye on economy in stage setting and lights. They were written for his own theatre company, and so he encourages the DIY ethic within the stage directions.
All three are great reads, and absolutely worthy of your attention. The only drawback is that they rarely play on the stage.
Plays were his thing long before he became a novelist, and here Barker shows us a real flair and talent long before he became the writer we all know and love.
These plays are all packed with farcical humour, elements of tragedy, drama, romance, erotica and... yes... liberal doses of horror. The Barker we know is here, but in embryonic form.
Collosus is a farce, based on the imagining of a day in the later life of Goya. The scenes here are often horrifying, but always with a reason to laugh scattered throughout.
Frankenstein in Love is more of a straight forward horror, with tragedy smattered through its veins. The creature is uniquely terrifying, especially when viewed through a modern political lens.
History of the Devil is a tour de force, and a typically Barker subject to tackle. Let's put the Devil on trial, and accuse ourselves in the process. It's truly genius in its simplicity.
The great thing about these plays is that he has an eye on economy in stage setting and lights. They were written for his own theatre company, and so he encourages the DIY ethic within the stage directions.
All three are great reads, and absolutely worthy of your attention. The only drawback is that they rarely play on the stage.
September 18, 2024
The plays all had very interesting concepts that I think Barker did a lot with, and all 3 had interesting things to say about the nature of humanity but sometimes his writing got a bit on my nerves. Especially his writing and treatment of his female characters. He sure does like having them get called whores and bitches by the male characters.
April 2, 2020
It was fine, wasn't the biggest fan of reading a book like this
March 25, 2021
i'm not fond of plays but i would enjoy seeing a huge production of clive barker's plays.
May 30, 2021
History of the Devil from this tome is essential reading.
March 14, 2022
I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of plays.
September 29, 2022
So amazing!
May 28, 2025
Here we have a collection of three of macabre author Clive Barker’s forays into the realm of theatre. I’ve always been sort of a save-the-best-for-last kinda guy, so for my money the plays should have been printed in reverse order (or chronological order, because for some reason Barker decided to put the most recent one first). The third play in the book is an odd little piece about the Devil put on trial for crimes against humanity; it manages a few amusing moments when not busy aspiring to absurdist status. The second play is a tedious bit of grand guignol about nothing in particular besides a seemingly endless parade of cruelty and perversion. The first play I actually liked; it’s a fictional episode from the life of Goya in which the painter finds himself in a war-destroyed manor house amidst a tawdry company of nobles, servants, soldiers, actors and thieves. Despite an occasional dip into melodrama, it reads like a solid piece of theatre. Also, a brief thumbs-up to Barker for including a note in the introduction in which he offers the works at minimal expense to amateurs and nonprofit productions. Though only the third play seemed as if it could be produced properly without a fairly substantial budget, Barker’s offer was nonetheless a nice gesture.
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