MST's Burn This is Hot Stuff

by Chepe Lockett
(original, uncut version)

The dark hand of recession lies heavy upon the country, and nowhere more so than upon the arts. Already even the Houston Grand Opera has slashed part of its season, and smaller groups especially are feeling the crunch. Main Street Theater usually prides itself on a budget more then half drawn from box office receipts rather than fattened with grants -- but in times of ever-scarcer entertainment dollars, ticket-holders can prove all too elusive. Yet even amidst financial woes, Main Street Theater is a beacon of engaging, challenging theatre in Houston. Sparser publicity and programs with fewer pages herald a few cutbacks, but their latest production, American playwright Lanford Wilson's 1987 drama Burn This, shines brightly as one of the best shows I've seen on their stage.

As the play opens, dancer/choreographer Anna (Gage Tarrant) and her gay apartment-mate Larry (Rodney Walsworth) are mourning the death of Robbie, their friend and housemate and Anna's dancing partner, and his lover Dominic, in a freak boating accident. Anna's fiance Burton (Thomas Baird), an insecure screenwriter, arrives to commiserate. Relationships are established, only to be thrown into confusion with the arrival of Robbie's fierce, direct brother Jimmy (Luis Lemus) -- nicknamed "Pale" for the brandy that is his favorite. Pale's resemblance to Robbie, and his interest in Anna, kindle feelings in her that she struggles with for the months the play chronicles, throwing all -- dancer, fiance, housemate and brother -- into a series of taut scenes that explore social niceties, grief, love, and how to live with life itself.

The acting in this production is simply superb. Gage Tarrant appeared in minor roles at the Alley Theatre last year, but here, in her MST debut as Anna, she strikes forth into a brilliant leading role. She is a delicate-boned bird, hobbled with grief at the drama's beginning, only to take wing and bring the audience with her through grief, anguish, pain, and eventual peaceful acceptance. I hate giving unqualified reviews, but I can scarcely find any point of her performance to disagree with.

MST veteran Rodney Walsworth's wry Larry plays perfect counterpoint; a constant source of humor to leaven the drama, and assuredly one of the more sane characters to hang onto as events swirl about us. Thomas Baird's Burton is strong in his very weakness -- I disliked his acting when he first appeared, thinking him timid and vacillating, only to find that it suited the character perfectly. And Baird strengthened impressively as his character grew and developed.

Another MST newcomer, Luis Lemus, stakes down the other lead role, and beautifully too. His Pale is the ultimate tough-talking street tough, doped with the vocabulary and intellect of a demented philosophy professor, an odd amalgam of savagery and urbanity. His swiftly yet crisply delivered monologues, tough Jersey accent deliberating on reincarnation or the transparency of social niceties, held the audience spellbound. Very occasionally Lemus blazed through lines too swiftly to follow, but he had so many fascinating things to say that I almost didn't mind! His stage movements, too, whether stalking across the stage or merely tearing his clothes off, conveyed perfectly the manic intensity that is Pale's allure. A challenging part comes fully to life here, and is a joy to watch.

Director William Burford has struck gold with this cast, and they glide effortlessly around the stage under his direction. Burton's aikido seems pretty well done too -- cheers to fight choreographer Steve Fenley. Maurice Tuttle's simple set adequately presents a spartan Manhattan loft apartment in a converted apartment, yet sets up interesting acting spaces with subtly placed steps and platforms. Rice alumna Gretchen Myers' lighting ranges from sexy cool moonlight to the harsh revealing light of winter mornings, but her blackouts always fade to the sinuous, sultry blues supplied by sound designers Burford, Walsworth, and J.W. Moore IV; bittersweet songs for a bittersweet play.

Burn This contains harsh language -- director Burford admits in the program notes that "Pale's street-wise language alone will peel paint at a distance" -- and is certainly not for those of pristine ears or closed minds. Its tortured, wandering artists may irritate some, but for sheer theatricality, passion, pain and humor, all rolled into one slam-bang package, I don't think you'll find a more enjoyable show in Houston. See it.

Burn This, by Lanford Wilson, plays Feb. 5 - March 8, at 8:00 PM Thu-Sat and 4:00 PM Sun, at Main Street Theater, 2450 Times Blvd. in the Rice University Village. Students get discount tickets. For information or reservations, call 524-6706.