In this essay, Franco Ruffini introduces and applies the notion of the savannah for theoretical and practical research within theatre anthropology, offering a wide spectrum of methodological and essential tools for inquiry. Among others, the elements discussed by Ruffini concern reality and levels of analysis, the relation with Asian cultures, energy of the actor and pre-expression, presence, second nature, adaptation, score. This article by Ruffini was originally published in Bouffonneries (15-16, L’énergie de l’acteur. Anthropologie Théâtrale 2, 1987, 33-52).