Savages
Encyclopedia
Savages is a play written by British playwright Christopher Hampton
. It premiered at the Royal Court Theatre
in 1973, and was published the following year by Faber and Faber
.
Hampton was inspired to write this play by a newspaper article titled "Genocide" by Norman Lewis
in the Sunday Times
Colour Magazine, published on 23 February 1969. This article dealt with the systematic extermination of Brazil
's Indians
ranging from the 16th century to the present day.
. In one single attack, virtually all members of the tribe were killed by sticks of dynamite dropped from a plane. Hampton based his research about the Quarup
and the legends he used in the play on "Mythology of all Ages" and on Claude Lévi-Strauss
's "Le cru et le cuit" and "Du Miel aux Cendres".
The political background of the play is the military dictatorship in Brazil
from 1964 to 1985. The regime, backed by the U.S. and particularly the CIA, suppressed all political and civil opposition by widespread use of torture and intense police pressure. Four years after the coup, a guerrilla
movement was established under the leadership of Carlos Marighella
of the A.L.N
(Ação Libertadora Nacional
). In 1969 and 1970 various ambassadors and embassy officials from the USA, Japan, West Germany and Switzerland were kidnapped to be exchanged for political prisoners. Marighela was killed by the police in November 1969. By 1972, the guerilla movement was said to be crushed.
While Carlos focuses on the plight of the 90 million Brazilian workers and landless farmers, West's mind is occupied with the extinction of the native Indians. In flashbacks, the audience learns that West has long been interested in Indian culture, rituals, and legends, and that he is aware of the genocide under way in the country. He knows that if no measures are taken, there will not be many Indians left to tell their tales and perform their rites of the Quarup
as they are being murdered by gifts of sugar mixed with arsenic, by wilfully spread disease (distributing blankets from smallpox wards was a common practice), or barbaric slaughter financed by greedy land owners and speculators, foreign and Brazilian companies. One of these henchmen, Ataide Pereira, is questioned by an American Investigator and tells a gruesome tale of murder and mercilessness. However, also the missionaries are criticised in the play: Reverend Elmer Penn treats "his flock" of converted Indians like domesticated animals not fit to think for themselves. Only an anthroplogist sees the situation as clearly as West but has no power or means to change it for the better.
Finally, West is shot by Carlos. The play ends with the bombing of the Quarup
celebrations which extinguished the Cintas Tribe.
Christopher Hampton
Christopher James Hampton CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, screen writer and film director. He is best known for his play based on the novel Les Liaisons dangereuses and the film version Dangerous Liaisons and also more recently for writing the nominated screenplay for the film adaptation of...
. It premiered at the Royal Court Theatre
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
in 1973, and was published the following year by Faber and Faber
Faber and Faber
Faber and Faber Limited, often abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in the UK, notable in particular for publishing a great deal of poetry and for its former editor T. S. Eliot. Faber has a rich tradition of publishing a wide range of fiction, non fiction, drama, film and music...
.
Hampton was inspired to write this play by a newspaper article titled "Genocide" by Norman Lewis
Norman Lewis
Norman Lewis was a prolific British writer best known for his travel writing. Though not widely known, "Norman Lewis is one of the best writers, not of any particular decade, but of our century", according to Graham Greene....
in the Sunday Times
The Sunday Times (UK)
The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...
Colour Magazine, published on 23 February 1969. This article dealt with the systematic extermination of Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
's Indians
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
ranging from the 16th century to the present day.
Background
The play is based on an incident in the early 1960s which involved the slaughter of the Cintas Tribe on one of their traditional feast days, the QuarupQuarup
The Quarup or Kuarup is the principal funeral ritual of the Indians of the Xingu. It is a gathering of all neighbouring tribes to celebrate life, death, and rebirth. One of its central events is the presentation of all young girls who first menstruated since the last quarup and whose time has come...
. In one single attack, virtually all members of the tribe were killed by sticks of dynamite dropped from a plane. Hampton based his research about the Quarup
Quarup
The Quarup or Kuarup is the principal funeral ritual of the Indians of the Xingu. It is a gathering of all neighbouring tribes to celebrate life, death, and rebirth. One of its central events is the presentation of all young girls who first menstruated since the last quarup and whose time has come...
and the legends he used in the play on "Mythology of all Ages" and on Claude Lévi-Strauss
Claude Lévi-Strauss
Claude Lévi-Strauss was a French anthropologist and ethnologist, and has been called, along with James George Frazer, the "father of modern anthropology"....
's "Le cru et le cuit" and "Du Miel aux Cendres".
The political background of the play is the military dictatorship in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
from 1964 to 1985. The regime, backed by the U.S. and particularly the CIA, suppressed all political and civil opposition by widespread use of torture and intense police pressure. Four years after the coup, a guerrilla
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
movement was established under the leadership of Carlos Marighella
Carlos Marighella
Carlos Marighella , was a Brazilian Marxist revolutionary and writer.Marighella's most famous contribution to guerrilla literature was the Minimanual of the Urban Guerrilla, consisting of advice on how to disrupt and overthrow an authoritarian regime aiming a revolution. He also wrote For the...
of the A.L.N
Ação Libertadora Nacional
The Ação Libertadora Nacional , the National Liberation Action, was a Brazilian communist guerrilla movement created in the end of 1967 to stand against the military dictatorship of 1964-1985. It was founded by Carlos Marighella after he got expelled from the Brazilian Communist Party....
(Ação Libertadora Nacional
Ação Libertadora Nacional
The Ação Libertadora Nacional , the National Liberation Action, was a Brazilian communist guerrilla movement created in the end of 1967 to stand against the military dictatorship of 1964-1985. It was founded by Carlos Marighella after he got expelled from the Brazilian Communist Party....
). In 1969 and 1970 various ambassadors and embassy officials from the USA, Japan, West Germany and Switzerland were kidnapped to be exchanged for political prisoners. Marighela was killed by the police in November 1969. By 1972, the guerilla movement was said to be crushed.
Plot summary
Alan West, British government official in Brazil, is kidnapped by the M.R.B. (Movimento Revolucionario Brasileiro) in order to be exchanged for political prisoners. His guard, Carlos Esquerdo, is no brutal slug, but a philosopher more talented to write poetry, recite quotes by Fanon or Camus, or play chess. He tries to make his hostage understand the ideas behind the revolutionary movement, reads the manifesto to him, and explains that the corrupt government must be punished for "selling our country to the interests of US capitalism, which it has allowed to exploit our resources and steal our land, while our people starve and suffer all the miseries of poverty and unemployment".While Carlos focuses on the plight of the 90 million Brazilian workers and landless farmers, West's mind is occupied with the extinction of the native Indians. In flashbacks, the audience learns that West has long been interested in Indian culture, rituals, and legends, and that he is aware of the genocide under way in the country. He knows that if no measures are taken, there will not be many Indians left to tell their tales and perform their rites of the Quarup
Quarup
The Quarup or Kuarup is the principal funeral ritual of the Indians of the Xingu. It is a gathering of all neighbouring tribes to celebrate life, death, and rebirth. One of its central events is the presentation of all young girls who first menstruated since the last quarup and whose time has come...
as they are being murdered by gifts of sugar mixed with arsenic, by wilfully spread disease (distributing blankets from smallpox wards was a common practice), or barbaric slaughter financed by greedy land owners and speculators, foreign and Brazilian companies. One of these henchmen, Ataide Pereira, is questioned by an American Investigator and tells a gruesome tale of murder and mercilessness. However, also the missionaries are criticised in the play: Reverend Elmer Penn treats "his flock" of converted Indians like domesticated animals not fit to think for themselves. Only an anthroplogist sees the situation as clearly as West but has no power or means to change it for the better.
Finally, West is shot by Carlos. The play ends with the bombing of the Quarup
Quarup
The Quarup or Kuarup is the principal funeral ritual of the Indians of the Xingu. It is a gathering of all neighbouring tribes to celebrate life, death, and rebirth. One of its central events is the presentation of all young girls who first menstruated since the last quarup and whose time has come...
celebrations which extinguished the Cintas Tribe.