Boek
Forms of Heaven
| Auteur | Clive Barker |
| Eerste Uitgave | 1996 |
| Uitgave | 1996 |
| Uitgeverij | Harper Collins Publishers Ltd. |
| Vorm | toneel |
| Taal | Engels |
| Bladzijden | 378 bladzijden |
| Gelezen | 2005-07-24 |
| Score | 8/10 |
Inhoud
Three Plays by Clive Barker
Before he wrote the novels that made his name touchstone of imaginative fiction worldwide, before he made the films that set new standards in cinematic terror, Clive Barker wrote for theatre: plays which are,like his books and his films, rich and multi-layered journeys into widly inventive worlds.
Last year, with the publication of Incarnations, he made three of these plays available to readers, actors and directors alike. Now in the second collection, he offers us three new journeys, each creating a real and vividly painted world touched by the strange and the transcendental.
In Crazyface, we follow the adventure of Tyl Eulenspiegel, a great clown cast adrift in the midst of Europe's Dark Ages, where he finds a line between comedy and tragedy so fine it can be crossed in the blink of a fool's eye.
In Paradise Street, Barker creates an indelible dramatic portrait of his native Liverpool, whose grim, gray streets are transformed before our astonished eyes by an extraordinary band of time-travlers.
In Subtle Bodies, a play which mingles sensuality and sexuality in a truly outrageous fashion, we are taken to swim in the sea of dreams which will later appear (as Quiddity) in such Barkers bestsellers as The Great and Secret Show and Everville. Here-in the kind of theatrical coup all three plays revel in-the power of desire and rage transforms a commonplace hotel into a ship that sails the dark waters of the dream-sea until misfortune overtakes it....
Though each of these plays evokes a very different world, they share a vision of how imagination enriches and transforms our lives. From the haunted and bittersweet humor of Crazyface to the politically charged landscapes of Paradise Street and on to the erotic fantasy of Subtle Bodies, Barker demonstrates yet again why he is among the most popular and treasured of contemporary writers.
Whether you are an avid theatre goer or simply a reader who wants to take a step into a wounderland, these three plays are an opportunity to taste the passion and the power of one of modern literature's most original visions.
Bespreking
Amazingly funny plays from the master of the fantastic
In Forms of Heaven, the second collection of plays written by Clive Barker during his early creative years, three extraordinary plays have been brought together. In Crazyface the audience follows the adventures of the famous Tyl Eulenspiegel and the struggle for a valuable secret between the great countries of Europe's Dark Ages. In Paradise Street an impoverished and totally destroyed Liverpool street get a visit of a group time travellers that is not at all interested in keeping the equilibrium of time. And finally in Subtle Bodies Clive Barker shows what happens if some outrageous characters stay the night in a hotel and share one apocalyptic common dream.
The numerous fans of Clive Barker are already more than convinced of the amazing imaginative powers of the author. But the early plays that Clive wrote might still amaze many of them. In a format that is less descriptive than a 400-page novel, the author still succeeds in constructing a fantastic and powerful imagery that again and again absorbs the reader into a sea of dreams and imagination. Whereas in his previous collection of plays, Incarnations, the focus was overwhelmingly on the horrific and the violent, the plays collected in Forms of Heaven have a much lighter and humorous common denominator. Certainly the scenes where many actors share the stage are not only strangely absurd, but also tremendously funny. The outspoken production notes, added to each play, will help you to feel what it would be like to see them acted out on a real stage. I sure hope to get an opportunity to enjoy such a show.