A Theatre of Ice and Warmth: on the Thirtieth Anniversary of Odin

Abstract

From Eugenio Barba's article in the inaugural edition of New Theatre Quarterly to Julia Varley's in the current issue, we have traced the progress of Odin Teatret both through the thinking of its members and – as in the following article – through the commentary of its friends and observers. Odin remains one of the most influential of contemporary experimental companies, as does Eugenio Barba one of the most widely-respected directors – having more recently extended his activities into the foundation and continuing work of ISTA, the International School of Theatre Anthropology. But Odin is also one of the longest-surviving of post-war companies, recently completing thirty years of work, largely at its home base of Hoistebro in Denmark. In the following article Ferdinando Taviani celebrates the occasion with a view of Odin which attempts to capture the essence of its style and approach, and to define the paradox of the image of the ‘empty ritual’ which Barba has himself recently used to describe it. Ferdinando Taviani, a specialist in commedia dell'arte and the craft of the actor, is a professor at Aquila University in Italy. He published The Book of Odin in 1972.