Eugenio Barba, director, theorist and founder of the Odin Teatret, is today one of the major points of reference for contemporary experimental theater. In The Paper Canoe--translated here into English for the first time--Eugenio Barba explores the"pre-expressive" basis of "presence" effective on stage and how human beings behave "in a situation of organized representation."

An enormously exciting, beautifully written and very moving work, The Paper Canoe is a crucial document for the comprehension of late twentieth-century intercultural performance. It comprises a fascinating dialogue with such masters of theater as Stanislavski, Meyerhold, Craig, Copeau, Brecht, Artand and Decroux. It establishes beyond doubt the importance of Barba's practical and theoretical work for today's students and practitioners of performance.