News - The Clive Barker Playscripts

We're delighted to announce that a series of Clive's full play scripts is being published by The Clive Barker Archive.

The Clive Barker Playscripts

The first two titles - The Magician and The History of the Devil - are available now through the Archive store.

This is the first edition of The Magician which is a one-act play in the Commedia dell' Arte tradition. Originally performed by The Dog Company in 1978, this first publication of the full script includes 14 photos of the original production, poster art and manuscript pages from The Clive Barker Archive.

The History of the Devil is one of Clive's most successful plays, with productions continuing around the world long after it was first performed by The Dog Company in 1980. This new publication of the full script includes 7 photos of the original production, poster art and manuscript pages from The Clive Barker Archive.

Clive Barker - The Magician Clive Barker - The History of the Devil
  • The Magician: Paperback first edition with cover art by Clive Barker, 92 pages, $7 plus shipping
  • The History of the Devil: Paperback edition with cover art by Clive Barker, 188 pages, $10 plus shipping

Further titles will become available over coming months!


Clive : "These plays are not finished things, they're invitations to collective work... These are blueprints, not houses. I am laying out the ground rules for a circus, and inviting wild beasts, clowns, and strippers on to parade themselves in any and every combination.
"What it comes down to is that these are texts which are meant to be starting places for very particular intellectual and artistic adventures. And they are particular to the group of people who have been gathered there to have the adventure. They are deliberately free-form. They are deliberately overpacked. They are deliberately ragged, unhoned, raw. I make no apology for any of that. They are intended to be, I hope, inspirational rather than repressive.
"They are ways to say to actors and directors and designers, 'Here are some ideas, here are some lines, here are some situations. Make masks, make dance, make music, make mime, make whatever you want to personalise this experience.'"

Clive Barker : Spokesman For The Strange

By Stephen Haff, Other Dimensions, No 1, Summer 1993

Phil & Sarah Stokes : "We're delighted to be continuing to release titles in the new series of Clive's play scripts as affordable paperbacks. It's been great to hear all the positive comments about The Magician and The History of the Devil - a huge thank you to everyone who has ordered them (and we hope to see productions springing up worldwide!).
"Our next two titles are Crazyface and Hunters in the Snow, set for publication in a few weeks' time."

Happy New Year!

By Phil & Sarah Stokes, The Clive Barker Archive Blog, 1 January 2018

Phil & Sarah Stokes : "Hunters in the Snow is set in a medieval, Breughel-inspired landscape and features a character called The Dutchman - a dark, undead witchfinder, summoned by mysterious means - with traits that would later feed into Clive's Mamoulian and Pinhead characters. Staged in the illustrious Everyman Theatre in Liverpool for just two nights in 1973, this text is a must-read for anyone interested in reading an early iteration of themes that would continue to infuse Clive's writing for many years.
"Crazyface was written as a piece commissioned by The Cockpit Youth Theatre in London in 1982. The play follows the trials of a family of fools - particularly the path of Tyl Eulenspiegel as he becomes unwittingly embroiled in a frantic Europe-wide scramble for control of a secret for which nations will go to war..."

More Plays..!

By Phil & Sarah Stokes, The Clive Barker Archive Blog, 24 June 2018

Hunters in the Snow by Clive Barker, originally performed by The Hydra Theatre Company in 1973. This first publication of the full script includes 3 photos of the original production, poster art and manuscript pages from The Clive Barker Archive.
Edited, with an additional afterword by Phil & Sarah Stokes.

Crazyface by Clive Barker, originally performed by The Cockpit Youth Theatre in 1982. This new publication of the full script includes poster art from the original production and manuscript pages from The Clive Barker Archive.
Edited, with an additional afterword by Phil & Sarah Stokes.

Clive Barker - Hunters in the Snow Clive Barker - Crazyface
  • Hunters in the Snow: Paperback first edition with cover art by Clive Barker, 118 pages, $7 plus shipping
  • Crazyface: Paperback edition with cover art by Clive Barker, 182 pages, $10 plus shipping

Head to The Clive Barker Archive for copies of The Clive Barker Playscripts

The Clive Barker Archive

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