4 from ritual to theater and back: the efficacy ... - AAAARG.ORG

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drama, script, theater, and performance
creative or “free” play. One of the qualities of play in higher primates
in the wild is the balance between its improvisational quality and its
orderliness: in fact, play is the improvisational imposition of order, a
way of making order out of disorder. And where play is not autistic it is
outer-directed, involving playmates. Although play prepares a young
primate for more than hunting, hunting is a particularly full use of
play. The most difficult hunts are those where the prey is intelligent
and strong. To hunt baboons effectively chimps must develop strategies
that take into account the formidable qualities of the resourceful
baboon. Such strategy is actively futurist; the present moment is conditioned
by what is presumed to be coming next. The hunter must
know what the prey is going to do, or the hunt will fail. What develops
is a game in the true sense. This game involves the hunter, or hunting
group, the prey, and the environment.
Hunting is inherently, not metaphorically, theatrical/dramatic. A
script is necessary in order to develop strategies that culminate in a
climactic attack-event; agonistic and cooperative behaviors combine in
a complicated way so that a “we and them” mentality is heightened;
signals are given that not only express feelings but direct actions; there
usually is a leader of the hunt and a single, identifiable prey so that
activity focuses and climaxes in a swift, violent confrontation during
which the issue is settled; the activity that builds to a climax is itself
active (this is the difference between hunting and trapping). After the
kill there is a feast with meat being shared according to strict rules (a
hierarchical communion); and after the feast, total relaxation.
This aspect of the functional theory of play needs, I think, special
elaboration because of its relationship to theater. Species that play most
also engage in activities that call for sudden expenditures of kinetic
energy: crises. This energy is spent on fighting, fleeing, hunting, mating,
maintaining dominance, and defining and/or protecting turf. In
the energy economy of any animal these crises arise relatively
infrequently; but when a crisis arises an animal that cannot swiftly
mobilize and direct high energy is doomed. An energy “bank” is
necessary for survival. This bank has two primary “accounts,” erotic
and combative; and several secondary (displacement) accounts: display,
dominance–submission gestures, marking (depositing urine
or feces, scratches on trees, etc.). But I use the word “bank” only