Career
He played the role of Judas in the 1996 West End revival of Jesus Christ Superstar, alongside Steve Balsamo (Jesus), Joanna Ampil (Mary Magdalene), and David Burt (Pilate). This production was staged at Lyceum Theatre, and was recorded in a full-length Civil Defense. Varla was trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and has also performed in West End productions of Cyrano de Bergerac and Julius Caesar. He initiated the role of Saleem in the first written-for-stage production of Midnight"s Children at London"s Barbican Theatre in 2001-2002.
He starred as Frederick Trumper in the 2001 Danish Tour of the musical Chess, and along with fellow cast members, made the only complete recording of the score, the Civil Defense of which is now unavailable.
He played Daniel Doyce in the British Broadcasting Corporation television adaptation of Charles Dickens" Little Dorrit in October 2008. In 2009 he starred in Shakespeare"s Twelfth Night as Feste alongside Derek Jacobi.
In 2010 he appeared in I, Claudius as Herod Agrippa. In 2013 Varla featured as Leo Kamali in the 4th season of Strike Back.
In 2013 Varla portrayed Gustav Mahler in a performance with London Arts Orchestra
In 2014 he featured in 5 episodes of The British Broadcasting Corporation"s production Our Girl as Qaseem.
