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

from ritual to theater and back 147
impossible to say what produced it, because it was produced as much
by the group that was working together in a certain way, with all the
work that has gone into that, and as much by all the conditions of the
moment that bore their influence: the place, the night, the feeling for
the other people, so that we were actually making something for them
in exchange for what they had offered us.
(Brook 1973: 45–6) 24
Throughout Asia I found this same “exchange policy” in force. Mac-
Intosh and I were invited to stay at Tenganan in Bali because the people
there knew we performed, and at the main public performance the
chief insisted that I do a dance(!). 25 At Karamui in Papua New Guinea –
far from any road (we flew there) – we were shown funeral ceremonies.
A villager, amidst much laughter, played the role of the corpse.
We were expected to sing songs in exchange. In the Sepik River village
of Kamanabit the headman insisted that MacIntosh be awakened and
brought to his house to sing even though she was exhausted from a
day’s travel. Her request concert came after I’d been listening to and
recording village women singing.
But things don’t always turn up roses, especially when the story is
told by the “others.” Brook and members of his troupe arrived in India
in 1983 to conduct research for their upcoming production of the
Mahabharata. Probir Guha, director of the Living Theatre of West Bengal,
said this about Brook’s visit:
He saw all the Chhau [masked dance–theater] performances I
arranged, made many notes, tried to ask many questions about the
performances, and we answered. Later he came a second time with
three of his artists to see Chhau. We conducted a three-day workshop
with his people and Chhau artists. The first night I organized a show
for him of Chhau dances of the Mahabharata. . . . He wanted his
actors to learn some of the steps. . . . Then he told me, “I’d like to take
one Purulia Chhau dancer from here for my Mahabharata. . . . He will
be with me for at least two years. . . . He will receive money and I will
look after him.” – So he went back to Paris.
Later several of Brook’s company members came and worked with
me, and then went back. After a long period, I had no contact with