Alexander Sudheim THEATRE
Ever since Darwin claimed them as our kin, man+s fascination with the ape has been a deep and divided one. The idea that we humans, the supreme species on the planet, may have links to the missing link closer than many might consider comfortable, inspires revulsion in some and enthrallment in others. Operating upon this interstice of interest and incredulity is The Chimp Project, the latest offering of the famed Handspring Puppet Company. And, though the play+s narrative development becomes sketchy at times, the mesmeric texture provided by the puppets and their partners makes for a strange, enthralling experience. In short, The Chimp Project is more visceral than cerebral. Those expecting the dense, literary layers of Faustus in Africa ought to shift their focus somewhat, for this offering is more about the intricately controlled flow of physical movement than the complicated unfurling of the intellect. Though, of course, the intellect has a major role to play in the ambit of human/chimpanzee interaction, a role that is explored here through a peculiar combination of simplicity and sophistication. The simplicity lies in the play+s morally neutral plot, which is a straightforward reflection of the -We can learn so much about ourselves from chimps+ versus -They+re just bloody animals+ debate and the -We must conserve and study chimps+ versus -People are hungry let them get eaten+ dilemma. Lisa, a gifted chimp in the jungles of Central Africa, has been taught a basic lexicon of signs by her Jane Goodall-esque mentor. She has also acquired several other human traits, such as a fondness for television and pornographic pictures of hunky studs. Though obviously intelligent, Lisa retains a wild temperament, and it is in her startlingly life-like appearance and comportment that the play+s sophistication kicks in. All the chimps and humans in the play are crafted with incredible attention to detail, with the puppets given life in such sensual fashion as to bring them within a whisker of realness. Unlike a conventional puppet show, the fact that this is an illusion is in no way disguised. Seeing the actors onstage behind the puppets and watching them project themselves into their fleshless protagonists is Handspring+s trademark. The plot thickens when the chimp sanctuary is taken over by the enigmatic Takashi, who insists that Lisa be -de-programmed+ and returned to nature. Further conflict ensues between the sanctuary and the local village, who begin hunting the chimps to sell as meat to labourers on a logging project run by a faceless multinational. Aided by the arrival of a troop of aggressive wild chimps displaced by the loggers, The Chimp Project slowly descends into bloodshed, chaos and sexual transgression of species boundaries. Though some of the extended scenes of pure animal behaviour drag at times, the parallel between humans mimicking chimps/chimps mimicking humans is an interesting one. Although no heavyweight on the theoretical side, The Chimp Project is a compellingly visual depiction of its subject that, with recent revelations regarding the unwitting complicity of chimps in the origin of HIV/Aids and its potential cure, is all the more reason to ponder the evolutionary spectre of man versus manbeast. The Chimp Project plays at the Market Theatre in Newtown, Johannesburg, until August 26