8 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, December 4, 1996 Actors share their souls in Basement Arts Burn This' By Christopher Tkaczyk Daily Arts Writer It has been said that the greatest writ- ing comes from deep within writers, and that what they write from their hearts is what is most true. To get deep inside, writers must go beyond any boundaries set by their personal lives. To share their greatest fears and tri- umphs with their readers, writers have to be willing to present their dreams and, experiences. Often, writers have reservations about what they should divulge to their readers. As a result, writers may destroy some of their great- est writing because they feel ,that what they PRI have written is j R too personal to be shared. Tomor This is the case at 7 p with Lanford in the Frieze Bu E rro~ .m. ildi Wilson, a play- wright whose masterpiece about the s hardships of being an artist is coming this weekend to Basement Arts. Wilson's play, "Burn This," was written as a response to how artists who put so much of their own lives into their cre- atye product can ultimately destroy themselves emotionally. It is a work of ar that lets its audience in on the cre- ative process and all that goes into it. The greatest and most interesting fact behind this play lies within the title itself. During an interview with The Michigan Daily, the director of "Burn This," Allison Tkac, a School of Music senior, explained that the title comes from what Wilson had written atop the pages of some of his writing. He intended to remind himself to destroy the highly personal material he realized he couldn't share with his readers. By burning the writing, he could not ,only prevent his darkest and deepest secrets from being revealed, but he could also prevent himself from having to deal with them. It is with this objec- r tive that Wilson has developed his char- acters in "Burn This." Every character is an artist. Altogether, the play is about a dancer, a visual artist, a writer and a man whose job is subjected to the artis- tic community of New York City. The play starts out after the funeral of the main characters' close friend, and follows their grieving process. The main conflict rests between how the artists deal with their loss and their con- tinuing work. The play, originally produced on Broadway in 1987, was a ground- breaking production at the time. Although it wasn't the first play to con- tain a homosexual main character, it was the first production that included a homosexual yet did not concentrate solely on a gay character's sexu- VIEW ality. This drama BurnThis presents the char- Burn This acter as another w through Saturday at person, instead of at the Arena Theater an outsider to ng. Admission is free. human society. Tkac said that she worked closely to the original script, hoping to convey Wilson's origi- nal intentions to her audience. "There has been much time and sweat put into this production, and I feel that that is a requirement since it is a study of artis- tic work," she said. "I wanted to concentrate entirely on the acting, since this production requires strong actors who are experi- enced with the trials and tribulations of the creative field." Tkac explained that the script was brought to her by two of the actors in the show. They realized they could present this as a powerful acting drama, which Tkac hopes to accomplish. "I expect the audience to understand the strife of an artist and what he or she goes through in order to create his or her art," she said. Actors work hard in order to accom- plish their goals, especially when they are demanded to present their emotions to an entertainment-hungry audience. Nobody knows the truth of this state- ment more than the actors who have been long at work in preparation for this weekend - like playwright Wilson, they are now ready to share their souls. Ralph Fiennes and 'English Patient' fans, get ready! A contest awaits you "The English Patient," the remarkable love story star- ring Ralph Flennes, Kristin Scott Thomas, Juliette Binoche and Willem Dafoe opened last week in theaters around the nation. The movie is an unconventional love story told from the deathbed of a man recovering from burns suffered in World War II. Unlike most movies of recent years, "The English Patient" succeeds in not only evoking a profound emotional response, but in setting its sentimentality against the sometimes brutal, some- times adventurous canvas of history. And, lucky for you, we want to celebrate! Do the words FREE STUFF ring a familiar bell? If you can name another movie in which sexy man Ralph Flennes appeared, then you just might be the proud recipient of a classy, sensual, full-sized "English Patient" movie poster. It's your big chance to steam up your bedroom windows with this sexy poster of Fiennes and Thomas In a passionate embrace. How can you pass this one up? Just stop by the Daily Arts office, located on the second floor of the Student Publications Building, 420 Maynard St., after 1 p.m. today and give us your answer. Remember: supplies are limited, so hurry ... we're waiting for you. Tupac lives! Death Row releases posthumous album 01 READ SPORTSMONDAY The Nation's * c course J U ST G OT E VE N I -800-KAP-EST www.kaplan.com Tupac Shakur Maka velil Death Row Conspiracy theories revolving around Tupac Shakur's death, as well as allegations that he's not really dead, will undoubtedly receive a boost with the posthumous release of "Makaveli," Shakur's fifth solo release. At the very beginning of "Makaveli" Tupac attacks various East Coast rappers, including Nas, Biggie and Mobb Deep; he implicates them in joining "together in conspiracy to assassinate the char- acter of not only Mr. Shakur, but of Death Row Records as well." But the idea that this LP most supports is that 2PAC sensed his approaching demise. "Makaveli" strikes me as an insane final mission by Shakur to take all of his contrastingly, hypocritically human feelings and lay them out in the open. Perhaps that explains why Shakur seemed to be desperately trying to cram into each of the LP's 12 songs as many diverse views as one human mind can hold. Take "White Man'z World," in which he begins by praising black women for their positive contributions to a world where both their race and gender works to their detriment. He then goes into the death of a homie by two bullets in his poor ghetto world, before going back to his discussion of women and apologiz- ing to his mother and sistas for the suf- fering he caused them. Lastly he speaks (not raps) to the fellas: "(Blacks have) been here all this time; (whites) ain't took us out. They can never take us out. ... It ain't them that's killin' us; it's us that's killin' us." However, no song can touch "Hail Mary,"' whose ominous- sounding beats are complimentedk by its dark refrain: "Come with me. Hail Mary, nigga run quick, see? What do we have here now? Do you The late Tupac Sha wanna ride or record world. die?" As he's done on many songs before, Tupac contrasts his desire for salvation from the darkness of his life with his calm willingness to remain immersed in the bowels of dark- 0 ness from which he was born. He'll "bow down, prayin' the Lord is listen- ing," while "seein' niggas comin' for me through my diamonds when they glis- tenin'." And he begs, "Catch me Father please, 'cause I'm fallin'."Yet regardless of the realization of the direction his life is going, "in the liquor store, pass the Hennessy. I hear it callin'." Much in the tradition of "Me Against the World," "Makaveli" offers 2PAC his final chance for release, much like a musical purgatory. Running through this album lies all the possible feel- ings a human being can " & have. Love, lust, hate, sadness, fear, joy, con- cern, indifference - they all sit side by side on "Makaveli," contradictory, yet simultaneously fitting together well. Many would take these continuously contrast- ing ideas to be a sign of 2PAC's hypocrisy. But I see it more as a real- ization of Shakur's humanity. A human- ness which, no different from our own, was being forever twisted by inconsis- tent opinions, controverted ideas and an oftentimes demented world around us. - Eugene Bowen The Heads No Talking, Just Head MCA The best way to define "No Talking, Just Head" is by stating what it isn't. "No Talking, Just Head" isn't a Talking Heads album, though The Heads is made up of all the mem- bers of Talking Heads - minus David Byrne. And it's not a compilation or a benefit album, though it does feature vocalists ranging from M i c h a e l w Hutchence of INXS to Live's Ed Kowalczyk. What "No Talking, Just Head" is, is an album with amaz- ing variety that ir lives on in the still maintains a constant thread throughout, mak- ing the songs fit together beautifully despite the assortment of vocalists. Before combining once again to form The Heads, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison and Tina Weymouth, once the most outstanding rhythm section of any '80s band, each pursued separate careers in the field of producing. Harrison had worked with Live, Crash Test Dummies and The Violent Femmes (two of whose vocalists appear on "No Talking, Just Head"), while Weymouth and Frantz worked with Ziggy Marley and Happy Mondays, as well as their own Tom Tom Club and others. When they hooked up with Blast, a talented guitarist, The Heads were formed. Unfortunately, as they began to put together the tracks for the album, they realized that they had no vocalist to sing them, nor any lyrics for a vocalist to sing. At this point, it paid to have connections and they sent out samplers to artists that they knew and respected. These new recruits - including Debbie Harry, Andy Partridge (of XTC), Johnette Napolitano (Concrete Blonde), Shaun Ryder (Black Grape) and Gordon Gano (Violent Femmes) - soon put lyrics to the tracks, and "No Talking, Just Head" began to come together brilliantly. The album that was produced as a result of this rather nontraditional method is truly unique. Perhaps its most attractive part is the stereotypes that are broken down by the vocalists themselves. Debbie Harry simply wails on "No Talking, Just Head," a vaguely industrial tune which completely puts a wrench in her earlier Blondie image. "No Big Bang" features Maria McKee, who con- tributes a positively danceable track. And Malin Anneteg, a New York spoken-word performer, manages to combine poetry and music without the rhythm even once seeming overpowering. But the best tracks on "No Talking, Just Head" are the boys who outdo even Byrne himself. Kowalczyk contributes "Indie Hair" a ditty that positively screams Talking Heads, wry lyrics and all. Richard Hell, another CBGB veter- aku an, offers up "Never Mind," a fupk exploration that contains words of.wis- dom along the lines of "Don't get me wrong: I like you and your dress,-but we're both better off without all That stress." And though I might be wrong, Shaun Ryder sounds just like Greg Dulli of the Afghan Whigs when he screams "Sleazy lady!" on "Don't Ta4 My Kindness For Weakness." Overall, "No Talking, Just Head" offers listeners a little bit of everything when it comes to vocalists, while con- sistently providing rhythms that will knock your socks off. The last hurdle for The Heads to overcome will be tdur- ing, though they have decided to make Johnette Napolitano lead vocalist with special guest appearances from the album's cast at selected dates. Whi this is definitely an unorthodo approach to making music, when it works as well as "No Talking, Jest Head", why change it? - Lise Harwin Gorky's Zygotic Mynci Introducing Gorky's Zygotic Mynci Mercury They're young. They're Welsh. They consume fields and fields of hallucino- genic mushrooms, and they make sne of the best and weirdest music around. They're Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, and their stateside debut is this sampler of the group's finest moments from their albums and singles. Unlike many bands who draw heavi from psychedelic and progressive . influences, Gorky's manage not to sotnd like they're stuck in 1968, mainly because of their youth and exuberance, but also because of the interesting direc- tions their songs take as they unfold: "Merched Ynneud Gwallt Eu Gilydd (Girls Doing Each Other's Hair),"-or example, swirls a Beatles-eque chorus together with a Flaming Lips-style sonic bombast in just under three minot "Why Are We Sleeping?" mixes boutc Moog synthesizer lines, lilting verses and a stomping hard-rock chorus and then sweeps out with various swooshjng and twittering noises. All this sonic tom- foolery sounds completely natural because the Gorkys' sense of melody m .