ABSTRACT
Performing onstage, performing in special social situations (public ceremonies, for example), and performing in everyday life are a continuum.These various kinds of performing occur in widely divergent circumstances, from solo shows
before the mirror to large-scale public events and rituals, from shaman healing rituals to identity-changing trances, from theatre and dance to the great and small roles of everyday life (see figure 6.1).This broad spectrum of performing
can be depicted as a continuum with each category leading to, and blending into, the next (see figure 6.2).There are no clear boundaries separating everyday life from family and social roles or social roles from job roles, church ritual from trance, acting onstage from acting offstage, and so on. I separate them for teaching purposes. Furthermore, a person can “jump” from one category to another – from daily life to trance, from ritual to entertainment, from one everyday life role to another. Sudden changes are common. Usually, a person knows when she is playing a role and when she is “being herself.”To “be myself ” is to behave in a relaxed and unguarded manner – but to another, even this kind of easy demeanor may come across as a performance. To “perform myself ” means to take on the appearance (clothes, demeanor, etc.), voice, and actions of Mother or Friend, Plumber or Doctor, and so on. Some people work very hard to enact one of society’s “great roles” such as Judge, Senator, or Movie Star. Others have a great role thrust on them, such as Survivor of Catastrophe, Grieving Parent, Lottery Winner, or even King. And some people work hard at being “just me,” that is, at performing oneself. Most people, most of the time, know the difference between enacting a social role and playing a role onstage – wearing the clothes, making the gestures, uttering the words, and maybe even feeling the emotions of characters in a drama.
