'Native' Dance

23

“NATIVE” DANCE
1932 Kong Screenplay
& Maria Lugones’s
Playfulness, “World”-Traveling,
and Loving Perception
Compiled by
Tracy Stephenson Shaffer

(“Native” Dance happens in 3 parts. First, a montage of the “native” dances that have come before happens: King Kong 1933, King Kong Versus Godzilla 1963, King Kong 1976, King Kong 2005. Second, the cast does a “native” dance to Christina Aguilera’s “Ain’t No Other Man” which both mimics and mocks those in the montage as well as sets up problems of its own. Toward the end of the dance, Denham, Jack, and Ann sneak on stage to watch. The third
part of “Native” Dance is an interaction with the Other, scripted by combining the
original 1932 script and Maria Lugones’s intercultural article, “Playfulness, ‘World’-Traveling, and Loving Perception.”)

DENHAM
Holy mackerel! What a show!
Driscoll, get a look at this!

(Driscoll carefully goes forward and peeps around.)

DENHAM
Did you ever see anything like that
before? If I we can film this before they see us -

ANN
(to Driscoll)
I want to see.

DRISCOLL
Come on and look, but be careful.

(Ann shifts to get a better look. Chant begins to rise. As it reaches its peak,
Chief sees them and shouts.)

CHIEF
Bado! Dama pati vego!

(Ceremony stops, natives turn and stare.)

DENHAM
Too late, they see us.

DRISCOLL
Let's beat it!

(He grabs Ann and turns to go. Denham seizes and holds him.)

DENHAM
Hold on there! What are you running
for?

DENHAM
No use trying to hide now.
Everybody come out here in plain
sight. Put up a bold front.

(Driscoll, Ann come forward a few paces behind Denham.)

CHIEF
Bado! Maka mini tau ansaro.(Wait!
Two warriors come with me.) (sarcastically) World travelers!
Let’s see what they want of us!

(In silence, the Chief with two warriors close behind him
advances to them.)

DRISCOLL
Stand still.

(Ann shifts nervously.)

DENHAM
(over his shoulder without
looking away from Chief)
Steady. Don't get nervous.

(Ann takes hold of Driscoll's arm. He puts his hand on hers
without looking at her.)

DRISCOLL
Never let a native see you're
worried. Bluff 'em.

(The chief stops.)

CHIEF
Many marginalized identities are known
in a particular world through caricature and stereotypes!

24

DENHAM
What’s she saying Driscoll?
I can’t understand her. What language is she speaking?

DRISCOLL
(to Denham)
I think they speak Lugones, maybe Haraway . . . let me see what I can do.

ANN
I thought you were a sailor, Jack.
How do you know these languages?

DRISCOLL  Well, Ann. My archetype’s changed over time. I went to school,
and now, I’m an academic.
A lot can happen from, say, 1933 to 1976.
(to Chief)
We wish to intervene on your behalf. We know that a stereotypical
projection of your identity diminishes the complexity and humanity
of your individuality and ethnicity.

CHIEF
(sternly)
We don’t need your intervention! Go! Get out!

DENHAM
She understands you, Driscoll! What's
she say?

DRISCOLL
She knows there’s not enough time for a thorough or even fair representation.
She’s afraid of us, of what we might do.

DENHAM
Ask her what they’re up to.

DRISCOLL
We are truly interested in you and your tribe.
We know that you have fallen prey to the expectations,
images, and stereotypes that particular worlds hold of you.

CHIEF
When in one world, we may animate or enact the caricature
or stereotype that particular world holds of us, sometimes knowingly,
sometimes unknowingly.

WARRIOR #1
We become a double self:

WARRIOR #2
the self of home and the self that succumbs to
the stereotypical behavior that the other world expects of us.

REST OF TRIBE
The burden of Kong! The burden of Kong!

DRISCOLL
She says they are doing a performance for King Kong!

DENHAM
Great! Now we’re getting somewhere. Find out why.

(The Witch Doctor rushes forward, very angry. (S)he addresses Chief.)

WITCH DOCTOR
Enact the caricature! Continue the stereotype! It’s easier and safer
than breaking those expectations!

CHIEF
(to Denham)
Tasko! Punya!

DENHAM
What's that?

DRISCOLL
She must be the witch? doctor?
She clearly doesn’t want us to have access.

DENHAM
Ask her why.

25

DRISCOLL
(to Chief)
You understand him, don’t you?

CHIEF
Of course I do! World traveling is a natural part of human interaction!
But for us it’s a necessity that demands great skill at code-switching!

(The warriors move menacingly forward.)

DRISCOLL
I don't like the looks of this, Denham.

(The Chief sees Ann.)

CHIEF
(shouting to the natives)
Look! The woman! She can code-switch with the best of us.

(Natives all look at her, murmur, smile, and try to wave her over.)

DENHAM
What's that?

DRISCOLL
I think they are trying to claim Ann!

DENHAM
Good Lord!

CHIEF
Like us, she is a plurality of selves. She should join us.

(Ann gasps, tries to smile.)

DRISCOLL
You got her into this, Denham.
(to Chief)
Ann stays with us!

(Chief growls menacingly. Warriors take another step forward.)

DRISCOLL
I'm going to take her back to the
Ship. We'd better all get out before they
think to take over completely!

DENHAM
I guess so. But tell her we'll come
back tomorrow to make friends.

DRISCOLL  What he said.

(Chief does not move, glares at them.)

(Ann, very frightened, but smiling gallantly, retreats slowly, with Driscoll.
Denham begins to whistle carelessly as he backs away as well. He whistles the chorus
of “It’s a Small World.” All leave the stage.)