ABSTRACT
Darwin first proposed a continuity of behavior from animals to people in The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872). For a long time his speculations lay fallow, but they are now being followed up. We want to know how much of “body language” is genetically fixed and how much learned. The underlying assumption is that an inclusive web includes both human and animal behavior. Is there also a cultural web? How are human religions, customs, and arts extensions, elaborations, and transformations of animal cultures? I want to explore this question as it pertains to theater. But I propose that the theatrical paradigm is a key to understanding larger plans of human social interaction.
