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

ethology and theater 237
or on overcoming the obstacles inhibiting it. I shall return to this
theme later.
To perform acts that are otherwise forbidden – punished, taboo,
unthought of – is a way of “making fun.” In human cultures these acts
are often violent and sexual. This is as true of the obscene real-life
dramas of the Kogu in Papua New Guinea as it is of Aristophanes; of the
insulting song-duels of the Tiv in Nigeria as it is of the Eskimos of
Alaska or Greenland. And if similar actions occur where there is no
chance of cultural diffusion, these are evidence of the deep structures
of human social, aesthetic, and biological organization. Rehearsals –
whether these be the exploratory seeking for and repeating of actions
characteristic of the modern theater, or the formal preparations that
precede many rituals – are times of intense fun. During rehearsals
performers play with the interface between the private and the public,
pushing and pulling the porous boundaries. A big part of the fun of
rehearsal is in trying out what may never be shown, a way of enacting
the forbidden.
The apes may not rehearse, but they do practice and improve their
performances through repetition. Goodall describes the display of
Mike, a male chimpanzee of the Gombe Stream Reserve in Tanzania.
(These chimps are not tamed or trained animals; the significance of
studies like Schaller’s and Goodall’s is that they were made among
wild animals.)
All at once Mike calmly walked over to our tent and took hold of an
empty kerosene can by the handle. Then he picked up a second can
and, walking upright, returned to the place where he had been sitting.
Armed with his two cans Mike continued to stare toward the other
males. After a few minutes he began to rock from side to side. At first
the movement was almost imperceptible, but Hugo and I were watching
him closely. Gradually he rocked more vigorously, his hair slowly
began to stand erect, and then softly at first, he started a series of
pant-hoots. As he called, Mike got to his feet and suddenly he was off,
charging toward the group of males, hitting the two cans ahead of
him. The cans, together with Mike’s crescendo of hooting, made the
most appalling racket: no wonder the erstwhile peaceful males rushed
out of the way. Mike and his cans vanished down a track, and after a