Ali’s unique approach to actor training and to performance – as well as her experience, knowledge and powerful charisma – has had a profound influence on the lives of many. She contributed hugely to the study and more importantly the practice of theatre through her directing, her books, articles and her teaching at drama schools, universities and workshops.
Her work remains alive in theatre companies, performances and on drama courses throughout the world. She was instrumental in linking East European theatre with counterparts in the UK and elsewhere at a crucial time for avant-garde theatre. And tens of thousands of people had their very first experience of theatre as children and young adults thanks to the company she co-founded in 1982.
An idea of the scope of her influence is given in the tributes below.
An edition of Theatre, Dance and Performance Training (Vol, 11.4, December 2020) and the journal’s blog contains many tributes to Ali and her work. More Info
Lisa Peck’s book Act as a Feminist! Towards a Critical Acting Pedagogy (Routledge) is dedicated to Ali. It explores a female genealogy of actor training as an alternative to dominant male lineages through the practices of UK women practitioners. It includes a case study of Ali’s Core Training, focusing on her work with touch and transformation. Lisa also teaches Ali’s work as part of a module Performing Practices at Sussex University. In 2021 Royal Holloway, University of London announced the creation of the Alison Hodge Directing Prize for Excellence in Theatre Making. It is an annual prize that will recognise the promise of young directors, and will continue to spread awareness of Ali’s legacy. In 2022, Talia Rodgers of Digital Theatre+ wrote a blog about Ali and gave access to an interview she did about her work.
“Ali gave a lot to us. It was one of the most beautiful exchanges of friendship, thought, respect and mutual care that has ever happened to us… There’s no way to express how much we can’t accept her passing. In Gardzienice she will be present as long as we are here.”
Włodzimierz Staniewski, Founder and Director of The European Centre for Theatre Practices, Gardzienice
“She was one of our core teachers and simply an inspiration for many years. I know many of you respected and loved her work.”
Ian Morgan, MA Theatre Lab Course Leader, RADA
“Ali’s work was marked by a number of things: her passion for the processes that lay behind actor training, an intellectual curiosity to understand the context for this and how to document it, and allegiance with people.”
Katie Normington, Professor of Drama and Deputy Principal, Royal Holloway, University of London More Info
“On Thursday evening a woman came into the exhibition who was 40 or so and said that she still had a powerful memory of the first piece of theatre she’d ever seen. It turned out to be the first show Theatre Alibi did at Emmanuel Hall in 1987. She’d been taken there by her school. It would be called ‘immersive theatre’ now, I guess. The woman, who was 8 at the time, thought about it for months afterwards and begged to be taken to the theatre at any opportunity after that. She then trained to be a professional singer and went on to work in the West End.”
Nikki Sved, Artistic Director, Theatre Alibi
“I’ve carried her books with me all around the world. Her influence is embedded in our work in NYC and every corner where we tour. She was an inspiration. Her teaching was clear, her methods were precise, her effect was grand.”
Issac Bush, ex-student at RADA
“We met in Gardzienice, such a long time ago. I felt we had known each other for many lifetimes. A kindred spirit. She never took sides, and I’m so grateful to her for her wisdom and generosity. When I left Gardzienice she organised a residency for me and Grzegorz Bral at Royal Holloway, which led to further cooperation, contacts and invitations for residencies in Taiwan amongst others. It was an amazing kick start for Piesn Kozla. Later, when Piesn Kozla’s MA Acting in co-operation with Manchester Metrapolitan University took off, Ali was our first external examiner, giving valuable feedback about the course, and students. Ali always had an eye for what was authentic in performance, could see the potential in even the most simplest of beginnings, and spoke her truth about it fearlessly. “
Anna Zubrzycka
“A wise teacher, a wise woman and an inspiration… Just last weekend I was movement directing for a student film and the training we did with her came back to me like a great gift…”
Anne Pajunen
“I sometimes had the joy of working alongside Ali in a training context for Dramatic Resources. She was truly committed to each person’s development, she would probe and support, and all the time there was laughter near the surface of the room, a light touch that went deep.”
Helen Chadwick, singer and composer
“I revisit our work constantly. Every class I teach, every project I make has the elements of the work we did for years. Inspiration and knowledge that I am sure we will all carry with us forever.”
Luis Gallo
“Alison was a teacher who gave us the time and space to explore new ideas and territories of rich practice, but above all delivered us a key set of principles to make art. She gave us an introduction into a new training and mentality. She gave us body, voice, breath and a stick! With that stick we danced, we moved, and accessed a new frontier of training.”
Animikii Theatre
“Ali created many beautiful moments and transformative experiences with those she connected with – through her teaching and creative projects and always with a spirit of playfulness and that resounding warm laugh of hers when she would sometimes probe and ask those more difficult questions.”
Ruth Way, Associate Professor Theatre & Performance, Co-Director of Plymouth Conservatoire
