Notes from an Odin Actress:Stones of Water

‘As an actress I sit, speak, run, sweat and, simultaneously, I represent someone who sits, speaks, runs and sweats. As an actress, I am both myself and the character I am playing. I exist in the concreteness of the performance and, at the same time, I need to be alive in the minds and senses of the spectators. How can I speak of this double reality?’ – Julia Varley

This is a book about the experience of being an actress from a professional and female perspective. Julia Varley has been a member of Odin Teatret for over thirty years, and Notes from an Odin Actress is a personal account of her work with Eugenio Barba and this world-renowned theatre company.

This is a unique window onto the in-depth exercises and day-to-day processes of an Odin member. It is a journal to enlighten anyone interested in the performances, the discoveries and the hard physical work that accompany a life in theatre.

Julia Varley joined Odin Teatret in 1976. She is an active actor, director, teacher and writer. She is closely involved with ISTA (International School of Theatre Anthropology) and the Magdalena Project, a network of women in contemporary theatre. She is also artistic director of the Transit Festival in Holstebro and editor of The Open Page, a journal devoted to women’s work in Theatre. Her articles and essays have been published in journals such as Mime Journal, New Theatre Quarterly, Teatro e Storia, Conjunto, Lapis and Máscara .

1. First Steps 2. The Dramaturgy of the Actress 3. Training 4. Improvisation and Composition 5. Score and Subscore 6. Text and Subtext 7. The Character 8. The Director 9. The Performance 10. Faces, Words, Landscapes