I, , ARTSI The Michigan Daily Monday, February 1, 1993 Page 5 Avant-garde production of 'Antigone' sends in the clowns by Liz Shaw I didn't exactly attend the Irondale Ensemble Project's production of Sophocles' "Antigone" with an open mind. It was a very cold night, I was in a very hot mood, I had to bribe one of my friends into going with me, and it was aGreek classic redone with clowns, for goodness sake. Antigone AVlichigan Theater January 29,1993 However, even I was pleasantly sur- prisedathow wonderfully theEnsemble pulled off this avant garde rendition of the powerful play. The audience actu- ally laughed ... and they were supposed to. The use of clowns as characters added a great deal of levity to the play without making it silly or stupid. Al- though a truly familiar eye could spot many strains of the original piece throughout the performance, if you'd never read or seen "Antigone" before this was not something to base a book report on. I must say, however, that the produc- tion could have easily (lone without the singing and dancing. I'm not exactly sure what message they were trying to get across with the singing, but if it was that they couldn't sing, they succeeded. The dances, as my friend so fittingly pointed out, were annoying and disrup- tive. Even I could see absolutely no point to Ismene dancing all over the stage with the chorus after she found out that her sister Antigone was going to risk her life and break the law by bury- ing their brother. The woman who played Antigone was wonderful, especially off Terry Greiss' powerful yet funny Creon. The two together drew and kept your atten- tion perfectly, and Griess' side-long glances at the audience were priceless. Although a good actress, there was something about Ismene at the begin- ning of the play that just didn't sit well with the audience. Maybe we just couldn't respect her after her aforemen- tioned jaunt with the chorus. however, she did become a stronger player as the production progressed. Asdidhervoice, which I was almost sure was going to leave her by the end of the first half hour. Although only seen as Creon's son Haemon for a very brief point, the por- trayal left one thinking of a true nineties man, standing up to his father for the woman he loves, yet not really doing anything to stop his father from killing her. The character that I was most im- pressed with was the Sentry, he had to be the funniest man on stage at all times. Not once did he let the audience down - they could count on his entrance for some hearty laughs. Not only was he impressive in his comedic acting, but when he abruptly changed into a serious speech, he made the transition so smoothly that you almost forgot that he was afool only 30seconds earlier. Alone, or when playing off the chorus, he did an excellent job. The chorus did a good. job of playing all of the necessary "leff- over" parts, and did wonderful slapstickk routines. Kennon Rothchilds's sets were very effective in setting the right mood, and the circus tent hovering over the entire performance gave you a sense of it 41 being justone ring of a three ring circus. I have to admit that I really didn't understand the end of the play. I was following it just fine until Creon slipped Antigone a fake knife in the suicide scene. Then a gun that shoots out the word "bang" when the trigger is pulled. Then a foam mallet. Finally, Antigone receives a pie in the face, as all the men in the chorus pull their pants down around their ankles and stand there sheepishly. 1mm... I didn't even try to interpret it. * No, it's not Nanci Griffith on a bad hair day. It's the play "Antigone." Ice Cube The Predator Priority Records Ice Cube is easily the most impor- tant man in hip hop today. Free of the shock rock excesses of former bandmates (the now-useless) N.W.A., or the authoritative politicizing of BDP, Ice Cube's eloquentexpressions of Black rage are far too real. So I was more than just a little con- fused after the first few spins of "The Predator." After the perfectly executed concept of "Death Certificate," this seemed, well, disjointed. "Death Certificate" took us point by point from how Africans ended up in the precarious position we're in, to the anger that pervades our community, up to what needs to be done to remedy the situation. It was a poetic textbook for African-Americans in the 90's. On "The Predator," we find Cube kicking old skool gangsta shit, such as shootin' up punks ("Now I Gotta Wet'cha") to X-rated kiddie rhymes ("Gangsta'sFairytale2"). I was crushed. The beats are slammin,' but where's the agenda? Where's the prophetic verses about what's gonna go down? Then, it all made itself perfectly clear. Ice Cube is pissed. Real pissed. Throughout "The Predator," Cube re- minds us that he's told us time and time again what was gonna happen. Back in the day, he hit us with "Fuck Tha Po- lice," which caused a national outrage. Then we had Rodney King. And Malice Green. Everyone from the Guardian Angels to the editor of Billboard maga- zine condemned Ice Cube for tracks like "Black Korea." Then the tensions between Korean merchants and the Black community culminated in the murder of a young Black girl by one such merchant. After the LAriots, jour- nalistsandnewsmediaeverywherewere scrutinizing Cube's work, deluginghim with interviews, asking "How did you know?" So this disc is Ice Cube's statement of vindication. Basically, it's one larger- than-life 'Fuck You' to those people that tried their damnedest to silence his truths. Over the disc's 16 incendiary tracks, Cube vents his rage by simply kicking jeep-bumpin' jams. Cube kicks off the jointby hittin' us with the dopest use of Queen's "We Will Rock You" beat ever on "When Will They Shoot?" Cypress Hill's D.J. Muggs lays down that phunky phresh vibe on the boomin' "We Had To Tear This Mothafucka Up," and the deep as hell groove of "Check Yo Self'(where Cube also shows he's down with the new skool by letting Das EFX kick the chorus). "Dirty Mack" even nods along righteously on a thick Steely Dan (!) sample He slows it down on the gorgeously mellow "It Was a Good Day," which is basically a utopian fantasy of a life Cube will probably never know. So while it isn't the prophetic text- book that "Death Certificate" proved to be, "The Predator" is one seriously fresh joint after another. Cube hasn't fallen off; We just don't deserve another mas- terwork quite yet. -Scott Sterling Nirvana Incesticide DGC You're Nirvana. Yeah, you know, that ultra-hip, grunge-ola, guitar trash- ing band from SEATTLE (just below Mecca on the ladder of holy pilgrimage sites), that shocked the world with their power-pop creations. Anyway, you've pretty much milked all the success you're going to get from "Nevermind," and it's time tostartputting someseriousthought towards your future plans. You can ... A) Retire from the music industry and go down as the greatest one-hit wonders in rock history. B) Take on Axl Rose's demeanor and decide that it will take you a jillion years before your next "masterpiece" is ready. C) Scrape together a few of your old demos, b-sides, cover tunes, and other assorted goodies that you have laying around, and release them as a new al- bum. This way you'll rake in some good dough on name value alone, and also keep that pimply-faced youngster who has been drooling for your next record, tied over for a while. Kincaid: Cagey, honest. by Joshua Keidan When asked whether she is currently working on any projects, authorJamaica Kincaid replied "Yes, but I would never tell you." This evasive author of two highly-acclaimed novels, "Annie John," and "Lucy," as well as a collection of short stories and the book-length essay "A Small Place," bases her writing on her own life. "My work is completely autobiographical, so far," she said. As for the future, "I can aim to stay with it (autobiography), but whether I will succeed I can't say." Like the title character in her novel "Lucy," Kincaid was born in St. John's, Antigua, and came to the United States as an au pair while still a teenager: Perhaps due in part to this dual cultural background, Kincaid's work appeals t6 a wide audience. "I'm very surprised that people read what I've written. I hadn't expected it. I'm very grateful." Her appeal? "I really don't know, it's amystery to me, and I hope no one tells me - I think that to know wouldn't do me any good, and it would probably do me some harm." Since anger permeates much of Kincaid's work, some of her appeal undoubtedly comes from the tense mood she creates. Fierce and furious are two words frequently used to describe her writing. This is a description Kincaid questions in her own mind. She said, "I always think, 'I wonder if I was a man, they would say that?' or 'I wonder if I was a white woman, they would say that?' But I never ask them." Her own opinion actually differs from that ofher critics. "I don'tthink there's a lot of anger (in my work). I think it's the truth. If you were saying something you thought was true, you wouldn't say it was angry of happy.You'd say it was the truth," she said. Both Kincaid's novels and short stories center around mother-daughter relationships, a bond she sees as intrinsic. "I can't say it is the most important thing in anyone else's life - it happened to have been the most important thing in my life. I wouldn't apply my obsessions to anyone else." Kincaid prides herself on no particular technique or style, but rather on feeling. "Intuition is my method," she said. She does not call herself an artist. "If I were self-consciously trying to make art I wouldn't be foolish enough to tell you, but I don't believe Iam. I don't think I really believe in art, for myself. I like art, in other people - I just wouldn't do it myself. For me, to say I was creating art would be a luxury, and I don't have time for that - I'm doing something else." ; If not creating art, then, what does Kincaid see herself doing? "I wouldn'j want to name it, but for me it's absolutely necessary. It's not necessary for anybody else to read it, but I have to write it. That's just the way I feel." As for her evasive answers to many questions, when I suggested to Kincaid that she seemed a bit, well, cagey, she responded, "You must be sure to tell people that. And I consider myself so without guile --it only goes to show. I'm trying to maintain my freedom: it's why Icame to this country. There's no sense- in going through all this only to commit myself to a young man from the Michigan Daily. I don't want to be pinned down, not even in my own mind especially not in my own mind. It's not cagey, Im just trying to stay free." Nanci Griffith could use a few lessons in manners from Nirvana. The obviousanswer is (C) of course. Nirvana are too cool to fall into the Rose .trap (at least for now), and too smart to give up a good thing which they still can flaunt. The culmination of there scraping is "Incesticide." There isn't toomuch here that you wouldn't be able to find else- where. Songs such as "Sliver," and "Dive" (which 89X incorrectly called a new single) are all available as previous releases. But there are some interesting tidbits like a funky "new-wave" version of "Polly," and the hard to find, "Mexi- can Seafood." "Incesticide" also contains tunes from the band's Peel Sessions, includ- ing cover songs of "Molly's Lips," and "Son of a Gun," from the Vaselines. These were available previously on Nirvana's Japanese import "Hormoaning," that cost a small for- tune to obtain, or if you were lucky enough to catch Nirvana on tour two years ago when the songs were staples in their set lists. Fans who just love collector's items will see more in this than just filler-time between albums. Listeners looking for the nextalbum of truly original Nirvana material, however, will have to wait until later this year when their new album is tentatively scheduled for re- lease. -Nima Hodaei e r r r u ~ ~~ i u t r nr rr I a it'n et u I t u s 0 r n v i n Wherever you are in Your job search, one place yc should be is the Career Planning & Placement Library* -- : )U R E S V R V U O F£ is IflKS. K AI1 H U H u K r S C~ 4 1 GET MONEY FROM YOUR UNCLE INSTEAD. - - fTT --I A - - ,es.a' tnfTr.' - n afi at aa ,n txhnnks andsuns- " " " 0 Why not start with these current CP&P resources? 150 Best Companies for Liberal Arts Graduates Community Jobs: The Employment Newspaper for the Non-Profit Sector " " S " The Chicago Job Bank " " " Career Choices for Students of English I I