8 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, November 4, 1998
Coming
next week:
Daily,
Sports.
presents
"Tip Off
'98" on
Thursday.
Play pilgrimages to Basement
Author finally tells
truthful war history
By Lauren Rice
Daily Arts Writer
Basement Arts never fails to
keep theater-goers on their toes
with a healthy blend of mainstage
productions as well as original
works from fresh writers. Recently,
the group has encouraged the sub-
mission of original works to fur-
ther add to the diverse atmosphere
that makes this a unique forum for
a variety of performances and pro-
ductions.
6 a
Blasphemy
Pilgrims
Arena Theater
Tomorrow at 7 p.m.
A
As the
Basement Arts
publicity co-
chair Jennifer
M o o r e
explained,
"We have
always pre-
sented a mix
of various tal-
ents, but this
fall especially
we are pro-
moting an
open forum
for new
group exceeds
Carrie Sue Kay Sulzer entered her
one-act play, which she wrote
while still an undergraduate at the
University of Kansoas, five years
ago in a contest. Her endeavor sub-
sequently earned her the Grant K.
Goodman Playwriting Award,
which included the opportunity to
give a staged reading of her work.
Not one to rest on previous laurels,
Sulzer answered Basement Arts'
advertisement for the recruitment
of new works to be incorporated
into its fall schedule. As a graduate
student in the linguistics program,
she and the rest of the campus have
the opportunity to view her cre-
ation in full with costumes and
lights.
"Blasphemy Pilgrims" has left
behind its simpler days of a staged
reading in favor of a full-fledged
performance. Directed by
Elizabeth Krinitt, a Music senior,
and topped off with the inclusion
of three talented actors from the
Department of Theater and Drama,
this show is clearly all about stu-
dents. Gracing the stage this week
will be theatre performance majors
Kimberly Woodman and Jeff
Steger, both seasoned veterans in
the field of mainstage productions
and other Basement Arts programs.
New to the scene is sophomore
Brendan McMahon, who brings
past credentials as an esteemed
actor from Eastern Michigan to
Michigan. His talents have landed
him in a recent Ann Arbor News
list as best actor in a drama.
This trio of talent unites to
embark on a search of love and
truth, possibly the most coveted
knowledge that man has sought to
discover and define since the
beginning of time. We follow them
as they grapple with these founda-
tions of life through the duration of
one night and the following morn-
ing in a caf6 in Vienna. During this
brief interval, two Americans
attempt to transcend the bound-
aries of society in this timeless
search.
Such a crusade for these worthy
ideals would not be complete with-
out a healthy dose of many
Americans' favorite pastimes that
make the brief moment here on
Earth all the more enjoyable.
Prepare yourself for a little smok-
ing, drinking, gambling, fighting,
profanity, seduction and a snow-
man.
"Blasphemy Pilgrims" will be pre-
sented in the Arena Theater; which is
located on the ground floor of the
Frieze Building. Admission isfree,
but plan to arrive early as seating is
limited. Two performances will be
offered Friday at 7 and 11 p.m. The.
Saturday show will begin at 7 p.m.
Call 764-6800 for more information.
works."
Once again the
audience expectations in present-
ing the premiere of the never-
before produced, "Blasphemy
Pilgrims."
Michigan graduate student
The Rape of Nanking
Iris Chang
Penguin Books
If asked about the Holocaust or the
atomic bombs dropped on Japan, the
average person often recalls these unfor-
tunate events in detail. Ask people on the
street about the massacre of hundreds of
thousands of Chinese during the so-
called "Rape of Nanking" and Iris
Chang, the author of "The Rape of
Nanking," would not be surprised if they
responded "Nanking who?"
Chang's new book is the depiction of a
historical event that occurred in the early
'30s when Japanese armies invaded
China. By December of 1937, the army
had reached Nanking, the Chinese capi-
tal, and begun a six-week long spree of
killing and torturing innocent and, for the
most part, unarmed civilians. The death
toll is estimated at more than 300,000
people - a number that is greater than
the toll from both atomic bombs dropped
on Japan. Chang's own grandparents
barely escaped
Nanking before
the killing began.
As a child,
Iris Chang Chang turned with
little success to her
Shaman Drum schoolbooks and
the public library
Tonight at 8 p.m. for information
about the mas-
sacre her parents
talked about. Until
recently, there has
been little infor-
mation about the
Rape of Nanking
available in American libraries and
schools.
In a recent interview Chang explained,
"there are Chinese historians who have
been documenting (these events) for
decades. There is no shortage of infor-
mation, (but) the records had never been
published (in English) until I excerpted
them in my book."
Chang relied heavily on primary
source material in her book, such as vic-
tims' accounts of the tragedy, diaries and
eyewitness accounts made by foreign
reporters and workers in the city. One
source Chang discovered is the diary of
John Rabe. Rabe was a Nazi business-
man who helped save hundreds of
Chinese from torture, rape and death.
John Rabe may seem an unlikely hero
since he was a Nazi, but as the author
remarks, "to tell John Rabe's story
reveals heroism in the most unlikeiv
places."
"The Rape of Nanking" is not an easy
read; its graphic depictions of torture
repeatedly turn the stomach and try to
reader's emotional state. Yet Chang-
reminds us that these descriptions are
vital to "understand the magnitude of the
pain and suffering inflicted on the vic-
tims." Despite the sensitive nature of the--
material, Iris Chang believes the right
place for the "The Rape of Nanking"is in
libraries and classrooms. As she said in
the interview, "this is not gratuitous vio-
lence put here for pleasure. This is a work
of history that should serve as a caution-
ary tale for future generations" 9
Although the Rape of Nanking was
front page news across the globe in 1937,
at the end of World War II the Japanese
government was never made to own up to
the unspeakable things it had done to the
Chinese people in Nanking and else-
where. With her book, Chang hopes to
bring an end to the suffering of the
Nanking victims.
But the Japanese continue to deny th'
occurrence of many horrors outlined 14
"The Rape of Nanking." For example,
despite two years of extensive research
and her undeniable historical accuracy,
the Japanese ambassador to the United
States denounced Ins Chang and her
book as "the most outrageous world
class lie" without being able to cite any
evidence for his statement. The ambas-
sador's claim drew immediate criticisni
from the People's Republic of China;
who issued letters supporting her and th
position of her book. t
Shocked but not thrown by reactionst6'
her book, Chang continues to push for a
resolution to the Nanking massacre. She
hopes the Japanese government will oWni
up to their past mistakes by issuing a spe-
cific apology, paying reparations to the
victims, calling a halt to the censoring of
school textbooks, and opening its
wartime archives. She would also like to
see an oral history video project, simil
to that which the Holocaust has receive
for the victims of the rape as a memorial:
Iris Chang is not about to let history stay
buried, but she fears what would happen,
if it did. She said she believes that "even-:
tually more books will be written and
these events will be rescued from obliv-:f
ion. The Japanese are not uniquely capa-"-
ble of these crimes. Each century is'
bloodier than the one preceding it because
we have the technology (to kill)"
- Kelly Lut
4U t. tinuron i.J l a s an
from campus) 0 769-0560
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