WHAT'S HAPPENING : ART.

Artistic endeavor brewing: They don't make Pabst Blue Ribbon there anymore, but downtown L.A.'s Brewery Art Complex still specializes in creative ferment.

Those ol' juices should be flowing fast and furious this Saturday and Sunday when the world's largest beehive of working artists' studios hosts its semi-annual Brewery Artwalk.

What's the concept? Basically, it's a group open house that lets the public view and discuss art works with the artists themselves. In 1996, the event drew 7,000 visitors to the former suds factory near the intersection of Main Street and the Golden State Freeway (5), about one mile east of Chinatown. Participating artists represent a wide range of backgrounds, career levels, ethnicity and, of course, media: painting, sculpture, printmaking, assemblage, ceramics, glass etchings, books, furniture design and so on.

Spread throughout 21 buildings in a 23-acre enclave, the estimated 400 artists and arts-related businesses make this complex a prime example of downtown postindustrial redevelopment. Among its amenities - available this weekend to art trollers - are the Brewery park and an outdoor cafe.

Doors will be open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day. Admission is free and there's free, secure off-street parking. For information, call [phone].

?13 - Reed Johnson

television

Another `Masterpiece': Great gobs of gothic romance. Big buckets of melancholy melotrauma. There's nothing better for an autumnal Sunday night than thwarted passion from 19th-century English writer Anne Bronte in the excellent ``Mobil Masterpiece Theatre'' production of ``The Tenant of Wildfell Hall,'' premiering at 9 p.m. on KCET (Channel 28).

Tara Fitzgerald (``Brassed Off'') is superb as gloriously gloomy Helen Graham, who flees her wanton, abusive husband (Rupert Graves) to hide in bleak Yorkshire with her young son. And Toby Stephens is especially winning as the stalwart, frustrated young farmer who tries to warm her heart.

The costumes, architecture and windswept English moors are stunning. Women's elaborate 19th-century hairstyles are an engineering feat. As usual with BBC-PBS co-productions, ``The Tenant of Wildfell Hall'' is an Anglophile's delight.

?13 - Kinney Littlefield

Orange County Register

theater

In the `Spirit': In her other life, the Ghana-born actress known as Akuyoe teaches at-risk youth how to build self-esteem through arts and education. So far, so commendable. But there's a personal edge to her writing workshop aimed at incarcerated gang members and called ``Unmasking Your Authentic Voice.''

That's a subject Akuyoe knows a good deal about.

Raised in West Africa but schooled in England and Manhattan, she was shaped by two very different and not always reconcilable cultural traditions. Later she joined New York's Circle Repertory Company, eventually performed Shakespearean comedy and did stints on episodic television (``Chicago Hope'') and in several TV films.

That scrambled heritage gave Akuyoe a purpose - and a subject: the search for a true self, sometimes hidden behind layers of cultural affectation and ethnic conditioning.

She'll bring those themes and a repertoire of tics and voices to the revival of her one-woman show, ``Spirit Awakening,'' which opens a five-week engagement tonight at the Stella Adler Theatre. Portraying 12 characters, both male and female, she sojourns from Ghana and London to Spanish Harlem as if she were channeling the entire African diaspora through herself.

Conceived in 1991, the show previously was performed at the Gallery Theatre in Barnsdall Park, UCLA's Freud Playhouse and at venues in New York, Dallas and Denver.

Performances are 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays through Nov. 23. The theater is at 6773 Hollywood Blvd. Tickets are $15 to $25. For information, call [phone].

?13 - Reed Johnson

film

Fright fest: Get a jump on Halloween - and we do mean jump - with ``I Know What You Did Last Summer.'' Written by ``Scream'' scripter Kevin Williamson, ``Summer'' is a more straightforward fright fest. But the writer's fine craftsmanship - expert plotting, deft characterization and intriguing moral subtext - raise this one a few cuts above your average slasher movie.

Four promising small-town teens, played by ``Party of Five's'' Jennifer Love Hewitt, ``Buffy the Vampire Slayer's'' Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Freddie Prinze Jr. find their futures and relationships crumbling after they're involved in a hit-hide-the-body-and-run accident. When a gaff-wielding psycho fisherman starts sending them notes with the title message, things go from depressing to terrifying.

The bright young cast members play the genre shenanigans convincingly while director Jim Gillespie digs up some new, twisted twists on the old shock routines. ``I Know What You Did Last Summer'' is a scary treat that doesn't insult your intelligence.

?13 - Bob Strauss

music

Doing what they do best: Formed in the Valley two years ago, the Hippos are among the most energetic and downright fun of the new crop of ska bands.

The band's catchy songs draw on day-to-day life to the point that kids can readily relate. While Reel Big Fish and Save Ferris get the bulk of the attention, the Hippos keep on doing what they do best - making sure dance floors are packed all over the city.

As Hippos singer-guitarist Ariel Rechtshaid puts it, the Hippos began with the dream of playing music at a backyard party, ``but due to the support of our fans and the scene, we just completed a tour across the country.''

The Hippos album, ``Forget the World,'' has sold almost 8,000 copies. The six-member band appears in an all-ages show tonight at the Roxy in West Hollywood on a bill with Teen Heroes, Jeffries Fan Club and Unleaded.

During the past two years, the Hippos have played shows with Reel Big Fish, Goldfinger, Save Ferris, Less Than Jake, Suicide Machines and others.

The Roxy is at 9009 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood. Show time is 8 p.m., and tickets are $8. Information: [phone].

?13 - Fred Shuster

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

Photo: (1) The Hippos, a band formed in the Valley two years ago, appears in an all-ages show tonight at the Roxy in West Hollywood.

(2) Small-town teens played by Sarah Michelle Gellar, left, Ryan Phillippe, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. find their futures and relationships crumbling in ``I Know What You Did Last Summer.''

(3) Akuyoe's revival of her one-woman show, ``Spirit Awakening,'' opens tonight at the Stella Adler Theatre in Hollywood.