Holstebro
Holstebro is the main town in Holstebro Municipality, Denmark. The town, bisected by Storå, Denmark, ''Storåen'' ("The Large Creek") and has a population of 37,487 (1 January 2025).Brindisi
Brindisi ( ; ) is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Historically, the city has played an essential role in trade and culture due to its strategic position ...
and grew up in
Gallipoli
The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east.
Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...
Naples
Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
in 1954, he emigrated to Norway to work as a welder and sailor. He also took degrees in French, Norwegian literature, and history of religion at
Oslo University
The University of Oslo (; ) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick University, the university was established in 1811 as the de facto Norwegian conti ...
. In 1961 he went to
Warsaw
Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
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
Opole (; ; ; ) is a city located in southern Poland on the Oder River and the historical capital of Upper Silesia. With a population of approximately 127,387 as of the 2021 census, it is the capital of Opole Voivodeship (province) and the seat of ...
. Barba stayed with Grotowski for three years.
In 1963 he traveled to India where he had his first encounter with
Kathakali
''Kathakali'' (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: Kathakaḷi ) is a traditional form of Indian Classical Dance, and one of the most complex forms of Theatre of India, Indian theatre. It is a play of verses. These vers ...
. He wrote an essay on the form which was published in Italy, France, the U. S. and Denmark. His first book, ''In Search of a Lost Theatre'', was published in Italy and Hungary in 1965.
When Barba returned to Oslo in 1964, he wanted to become a professional theatre director, but as a foreigner he faced opposition. He and Norwegian author Jens Bjørneboe gathered a group of people who had not passed their admission test to Oslo's State Theatre School and created the Odin Teatret on 1 October 1964. The group trained and rehearsed in an air raid shelter. Their first production, ''Ornitofilene'', by Bjørneboe, was performed in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. They were subsequently offered an old farm and a small sum of money by the Danish municipality of
Holstebro
Holstebro is the main town in Holstebro Municipality, Denmark. The town, bisected by Storå, Denmark, ''Storåen'' ("The Large Creek") and has a population of 37,487 (1 January 2025).International School of Theatre Anthropology (ISTA). He is on the advisory boards of scholarly journals such as '' The Drama Review'', '' Performance Research'', ''New Theatre Quarterly'', ''Teatro e Storia'' and ''Teatrología''. Among his most recent publications, translated into several different languages, are ''The Paper Canoe'' (
Routledge
Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...
), ''Theatre: Solitude, Craft, Revolt'' (Black Mountain Press), ''Land of Ashes and Diamonds: My Apprenticeship in Poland'', 26 letters from Jerzy Grotowski to Barba (Black Mountain Press) and, in collaboration with Nicola Savarese, ''The Secret Art of the Performer'' and the revised and updated version of ''A Dictionary of Theatre Anthropology'' (Centre for Performance Research/Routledge). In 2021 he has founded the open-access ''Journal of Theatre Anthropology''.