Monkey Business Theatre

From All for All

From All for All a tzotzil-tzeltal tragicomedy () for the first time, not a single word had been written upon Ralph’s arrival. Andrés Fábregas Puig, director of the Instituto Chiapaneco de Cultura, suggested we touch on the present situation: the overrunning of four towns, including San Cristóbal de las Casas, on New Year’s Day 1994 by the ezln, the Zapatista National Liberation Army. Protesting the disastrous effect of the North American Free Trade Agreement (nafta) on rural Mexico, the Zapatistas demanded that the Mayan Indians be treated as first-class citizens of Mexico. Ralph waited impatiently while the members debated for hours. Our president , Tziak, came from Tenejapa, where the Zapatista movement was gaining popularity, and he was all for celebrating the uprising, but the Zinacantecs demurred: “Who was Subcomandante Marcos? What did he want? Why is he causing all this trouble?” Following Zinacantán’s centuries of opposition to Indian rebellion, they decided that the subject of the play should be ecology— a more prudent endeavor. Tziak protested, “But Marcos said that if it weren’t for the jungle, they’d all be dead, so he’s an ecologist!” Shortly after the uprising, Tziak, as president of Sna Jtz’ibajom, attended a meeting attended by 285 members of Indian and campesino organizations. Their leaders, one after the other, listed their problems and presented their demands to the new interim governor. He recorded the meeting on video, which he showed to the group. “That’s the truth!” they exclaimed. “That’s straight talk! All right, let’s put that together with ecology!” And so the playwrights from Tenejapa, Zinacantán, and Chamula debated from morning to afternoon over each possible scene, each line, while Ralph and I tossed in occasional suggestions. But it was not easy. The phone rang. Word had spread about Tziak’s video. The governor wanted a copy. Ten minutes later it was Bishop Samuel Ruiz’s [  ] monkey business theatre office, requesting a copy for the bishop and another for Marcos. Ding-a-ling, a reporter in Italy wanted to hear the latest. There was a conflict of priorities. Ralph, with the pressure of seeing a whole production staged before he left, was faced with actors who, instead of learning their lines, were poring over the latest news in Tiempo. “But there’s a war on!” Afterward they confessed that it was their fault—they hadn’t scared each other into having a script ready for Ralph’s arrival. At least they had decided (at my suggestion) that the play would have a cast of only six, which would be easier for “poor Ralph” to finish in time and more attractive for gaining invitations to foreign tours. Xun reported: Foreigners asked us, “How come in this work a woman was given an important role?” since they said that we here in Chiapas don’t pay much respect for women’s words—just what men say. We told them the truth, that yes, men are always a bit that way, that men’s commands go a bit too far, but that now it’s changed. There’s been a big change in how we feel today. It didn’t used to be like that! Today we pay attention to them, but not too much so! No, we can’t say that it’s just women’s talk we’re involved in. But we always ask their opinion. Not many days passed before it was decided to choose Marcos’s philosophy , de todos para todos (from all for all), as the play’s title. But our president, despite his political concern, was glad to include ecology. “The animals are suffering . If we warm ourselves with the trees, the plants will die. That’s where the animals grow up. That’s where they eat. If the forest disappears, where will the animals go? The poor things will die.” The play slowly took shape: 1. Campesinos work happily in their milpa. 2. Cattleman claims the land is his and orders them off. 3. Campesino complains to government agent, who, after receiving a bribe from the cattleman, sends them to the jungle. 4. Campesinos depart unhappily but get good harvest there. 5. Animals complain about loss of jungle to the Earth Lord, who agrees to send drought and sickness. 6. Six toads give sickness to sleeping campesinos. No doctor ever appears, but a Chamulan shaman, who has dreamed of animals’ complaints, cures all, urging...