Eugenio Barba

Eugenio Barba (born 29 October 1936 in Brindisi, Italy) is an Italian author and theatre director based in Denmark. He is the founder of the Odin Theatre and the International School of Theatre Anthropology, both located in Holstebro, Denmark.

Although Barba was born in Brindisi, he grew up in Gallipoli in the Province of Lecce, where his family came from. His family’s socio-economic situation changed significantly when his father, a military officer, was wounded in the Second World War and died soon after.

Upon completing high school at the Nunziatella military academy of Naples in 1954, he abandoned the idea of following his father into the military. Instead, in 1954, he emigrated to Norway to work as a welder and a sailor. He also took a degree in French, Norwegian literature, and history of religion at Oslo University. In 1961 he went to Warsaw in Poland to study theatre direction at the State Theatre School, but left one year later to join Jerzy Grotowski, who at that time was the leader of Teatr 13 Rzedow in Opole. Barba stayed with Grotowski for three years.

In 1963 he traveled to India where he had his first encounter with Kathakali, a theatre form which had received little attention in the West up to that time. Barba wrote an essay on Kathakali which was published in Italy, France, the USA and Denmark. His first book, Grotowski in search of a Lost Theatre, was published in Italy and Hungary in 1965.

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