For the love of theater. An interview with Eugenio Barba and Julia Varley

Abstract

We are honored to interview Eugenio Barba has marked the theatrical culture of the second half of the twentieth century. He trained with Jerzy Grotowski, in the “Theater of the 13 rows” and traveled through India to study Kathakali theater. In 1964 he founded the Odin Teatret, based in Holstebro (Denmark), a laboratory school, and one of the most influential companies in the evolution of European theater in the late twentieth century. In 1979 he founded the International School of Theatrical Anthropology, which opened a new field of study: Theatrical Anthropology. Author of reference works, such as “The Secret Art of the Actor” or “The Paper Canoe. A Treatise on Theatrical Anthropology”, he has been awarded numerous prizes and recognitions, and twelve honorary doctorates. Eugenio Barba is a central figure in contemporary theater, and has been defined as one of the last great living masters of Western theater.