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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1984-08-29, Page 17entertainment Serving over 24,000 homes in Listowel, Wingham, Mount Forest, Milverton, Ariss, Arthur, Drayton, Harriston, Moorefield, Palmerston, Bloomingdale, Breslau, Conestogo, Slmira, Heidelberg, Linwood, Maryhill, St. Clements, St. Jacobs, Wallenstein, Wellesley and West Montrose. Wednesday, August 29, 1984 Milverton will be Mecca for by Shawn Denstedt ormer stars This Labor Day weekend, Milverton will become a Mecca for senior women's softball players, as this well- known softball village hosts the first ever reunion of the Ontario Senior Ladies' Softball League. Thi' reunion, the brainchild of Mil - Dor Twins Coach Bob Harrow, has been incorporated as part of the league play- off tournament, also slated that weekend in Milverton — and what. better place than Milverton to hold the reunion? Since joining the senior league in 1971, M-Uverton has been a dominant force in senior women's softball in Ontario. Although Milverton teams have won pnly four pennants and two league championships in 13 years, they have won the Ontario Provincial Championship six times, finishing second in Canada twice and third on one occasion. "This is by far the best league in Canada," Mr. Harrow says about the Ontario loop, which also boasts two American teams located in North Tonawanda and Cheektowaga. Although perennially Canadian Champions, the Vancouver Alpha Sports find their toughest competition m an American fastball league. Mr. Harrow admits when the idea of a reunion for former players first entered his mind he hadn't realized the length of time the league had been in operation. The Ontario Senior Travel League was formed in 1953 but the Toronto Senior League, which was a forerunner of the present league, dates back to the 1940's and earlier. "It's going to be a showcase and we'll have a chance to pay the kind of respect that this league deserves,," Mr. Harrow said. Although a Senior Ladies' Softball League Hall of Fame had been discussed, them_has been no further action taken in that direction. Again, Mr. Harrow says Milverton would be an ideal location for such an institution, given its track record in women's softball. Mr. Harrow said he expects about 300 to 350 former players to attend the Saturday night banquet in Milverton, which is closed to the public. At that banquet the Senior League will also make its annual awards presentations. This year each team also will select its favorite and most dedicated fan for the season, to be honored at the banquet as well. However, the highlight of the weekend will be on Saturday afternoon when a team of all-stars . from the retired players will be pitted against.a press team made-up of players from the Kitchener -Waterloo Record, CKKW J° JEAN HAGEY, who will take part in the heeOOntarios rioa piteniocher Ladies.' ieS' hetSoftball League reunion on the Labor Day Kit- chener Kieswetters. She led the team to the Canadian Championships in 1971. Radio, CJCS Radio and the Stratford Beacon -Herald. That game'is slated for 4:30 on Saturday afternoon and Mr. Harrow says many of the former players have already made commit- ments. A few of the former stars who will be taking part in the game are Joan Atwood, perennial all-star third baseman with Fort Erie Don Dean Chev Olds in the 1960's; Jean Hagey, the big right-hander pitcher with the Kitchener Kieswetters who led Kit- chener to the Canadian Championship The Merchant of Venice is a feast for the eyes by Ruth Tatham "The Merchant of Venice" has long been a favourite Shakespearean play. It has often been the first such play on the high school curriculum for teenagers coming straight from public school. Presumably, this is because it is easier to understand and requires less his- torical knowledge or political awareness than do most of the other plays by William Shakespeare. However, to some, who look no father than the superficial meaning of its words, it could be interpreted as anti- Semitic - baiting and downgrading a Jew because he is a Jew, and a suc- cessful mercantile Jew, at that. A deeper look demonstrates that the mat- in 1971. From the old Toronto Car- petland teams which won three straight Ontario Championships in the 1960's' and a pair of Canadian titles will be Arline Best, who pitched with the Willowdale Newtonbrook Restaurant as recently as 1981 and Helen Doberstein. Another former great who will in attendance at the game is the pitcher from Ohsweken, Phyllis "Yogi" Bomberry and aslo Ruthie Hill from Ohsweken, another great pitcher who helped Toronto Carpetland win Canada's only World Championship in ter of using a Jew as the villain is primarily an effective way to demonstrate to audiences of Shake- speare's era that justice alone is insuffi- cient to a civilized' community. Shylock, the Jew, wanted his "bond", the promise of the merchant's pound of flesh if he could not repay the debt within three months. The wisdom of the judge, none other than the heroine in disguise, likes in her exacting demand that justice for all means that Shylock can take no drop of blood and not a whit less nor more than his pound of flesh. Faced with such a dilemma, the in- telligent Shylock wisely says, "Forget the bond" - only to find that he has threatened death to a Venetian noble- man and by the law of Venice, that means he must give half of his total wealth to that threatened man and the other half to a charity. And further- more - and here most of us 20th century folk would cry "Unfair." - further- more, Shylock must convert to Chris- tianity and then readjust his estate so that his disowned daughter and her Christian husband are his heirs. Well, the matters of justice and of equality for women, really of equality for all people, are well -examined in "The Merchant of Venice." The current production, which just opened at the Stratford Festival Theatre on Aug. 10, will pull in large crowds without a doubt - partly because of the themes discuss- ed in the play, partly because of some fine acting and staging, and partly because of a sumptuously -beautiful job of costuming by designer Christina Poddubiunk. Shakespeare seems to have been fascinated by Italy and what he thought was the Italian way of life. Although a JOAN ATWOOD, perennial all-star third baseman with Fort Erie Don Dean Chev Olds in the 1960's, will be one of the former stars taking part in the game at the reunion of the Ontario Senior Ladies' Softball League. women's softball in the 1950's when she teamed up with Marion Fox, a Canadian Amateur Softball Association hall of famer who never used a glove when she pitched. It was the legendary Fox who led Toronto to an upset victory over Bertha Tickey and het Orange California ..Lionettes at the World Championship. There will be a number of former Milverton Suns (Winstonettes) who will be taking part in the game, and that will provide Milverton and area fans with the most excitement. few centuries have passed since then, it is hard to believe that Shakespeare really knew much about Italy. But a fascination for Italy was and has re- mained a common sentiment in others. Venice itself has fascinated people for centuries - as the gateway to, the Byzantine world and the Orient, as the; trade centre between Europe and Asia, as a city floating on islands in a warm sea, as a culture focus for the civilized world, Venice has been very special to writers and artists. Canals, gondolas, bridges, and a patron saint whose insignia was a wing- ed lion holding a gospel in his forepaws, glassworks, marble and statues, and the original invention and use of terraz- zo flooring, these conjure up a world that is unreal. Interestingly, Shakespeare spent almost no time talking about the prime reasons that life in Venice was dif- ferent. Perhaps he failed to realize how unusual the far -away city was in its geography and topography. He did, however, recognize it as the commer- cial centre it was. And therefore, it was the ideal spot to place a prosperous and virtuous merchant whose wealth depended on his merchant fleet. That merchant, Antonio, risks more than all he has in order to loan a large sum of money to .a close friend, Bassanio, who wishes to be a suitor for the hand of the brilliant and beautiful Portia. This fair lady, the heiress to a huge fortune, lives in the nearby city of Bel- mont where she awaits a suitor who can solve the j-iddle left by her eccentric father, and thereby marry her. Bassanio and Portia are in love with each other, and pray that a kind For- tune will guide Bassanio to solve the. riddle. Antonio's love for his friend is greater than his commonsense. He has to bor- row heavily from the only available source in Venice, a wealthy Jew named Shylock, whom Antonio had publicly de- nounced many times because of the Carol Kish, a long-time Milverton Sun who put together two 19 -win seasons in the 1970's and defeated Saskatchewan in the first game of the finals at the National Championships in Regina in 1978 will be in attendance. Another former Winstonette, Sandy Burns (formerly Graham) will be in Milverton for the reunion. • • Burns was considered by many as the best catcher- in women's softball in Canada when she played , for the Milverton •Winstonettes in their early years. However, she retired early after getting married, but on Labor Day weekend she will be back in Milverton to thrill the fans the way she once did with her bullet -like throw and screaming life -drives. While the league will be celebrating its history, •today's teams will be competing for the league• cham- pionship. The Mil -Dor Twins, of Milverton, won the North Division pennant while North Tonawanda captured the. South Division pennant. Competing in the play-off tournament will be teams from St. Clements, Kitchener, St. Catharines, Cheektowaga, Burlington and Fort Erie besides the two pennant winners. On the Friday night of the tour- nament an all-star team from the North Division will meet the South Division all stars, game -time is 8:30 p.m. The orgy of women's softball on Labor Day weekend is just another jewel in Milverton's crown of women's softball events. Milverton has been the only village to host a Senior and Junior Canadian Championship and has had the Senior Women's Provincial Championship games for six of the last eight years. When the senior league stars of yesterday converge on Milverton, many will have vivid memories of the place that has become known as the "Biggest Little Softball Town in Canada". • The banquet will also honor builders in the league which has had teams from Sarnia, Barrie, Guelph, Toronto, Ohsweken, London, Simcoe and Brantford at various times in its lengthy history. — "This will be a showcase; we're trying to promote the league the way it should be and this is the way to do it," Mr. Harrow says confidently. _ Yet the league itself has struggled in near anonymity over the years, often neglected by the press in favor of men's softball. It is that anonymity that Mr. Harrow wants to rid the league of. As one of the finest leagues for women's fastball in North America, Mr. Harrow says it is time the league got some recognition. He is, however, one of the first . to admit that the problem has been with the league itself, in not trying to market its product. He says the old-timer game and the all-star game, coupled with the reunion and league play-off tournament will allow the league to present itself as one of the longest established and best run women's leagues in Canada. If history is consulted it was Mr. Harrow who had the dream of a -women's 'softball team in Milverton and the hosting of a Canadian Cham- pionship and both of those materialized. It seems quite possible that the celebration on. Labor Day in Milverton swill be another milestone in Milverton's love affair with women's softball. very high interest rates he charged. Spurned by the Christian society, Shylock wished to gain revenge. He decided to loan the money to Antonio but'demand that if it were not repaid in full in three months, he could have a pound of Antonio's flesh, nearest his heart. Antonio's fortunes collapse ashis boats run aground here and there and. he faces the extraction of the pound of flesh to a vengeful Shylock. At the "eleventh hour a mysterious magistrate and clerk arrive from a judge in a nearby principality. This in- teresting young person, known to the audience of course as Portia in disguise, passes a wise judgement on Shylock -and eventually, all ends fairly happily. Admittedly, poor old Shylock gets a -poor deal from it all, but almost everybody else gains a lot. The play revolves around three peo- ple, plus three bit players. The main roles this year are taken by veteran ac- tor John Neville as Shylock, by Domini Blythe as Portia, and Andrew Gillies as her lover, Bassanio. Neville portrays Shylock well. He derives great depth of meaning from the principal speeches and his flawless staging and acting "presence" show the scope of his acting ability. The only concern really is that we were never able to forget he was an actor playing a mercantile Jew, he was a man preten- ding to be another man. Perhaps the ultimate test would have been for us to have forgotten that John Neville ex- isted, and just absorbed the Shylock. Domini Blythe, aside from being what was once called "very comely" to look at, does justice to the role of Por tia, and goes one step beyond many Portias. She seems really feminine when she is being Portia. Too many rec- tangular, masculine actresses with rather baritone voices have been hand- ed this role. Portia convinces the people in the courtroom that she' is a man because of the way she behaves, not because of her gruff voice. We see what we want to see, we hear what we want to hear. Andrew Gillies does a fine job as Bassanio. It is a rather tricky role, because Portia, the strong and wise lady, must not emasculate the man she loves, or we will find this a flaw in h'er,. Gillies therefore has to be a masculine figure, yet tender enough to accept and give some freedom to a woman as special as Portia. He does this and so satisfies the audience's expectations. In- the bit roles, Gratiano as the terribly -talkative friend (who rarely says much) of Antonio, is totally - believable as he is portrayed by another veteran, Stephen Russell. His little lady -love, Nerissa, who becomes the clerk to the out-of-town judge, is very endearingly -played by tiny Heather MacDonald. The third bit part is a little comic role Shakespeare has given us -Launcelot Gobbo, the lazy loudmouth servant to whomever will pay him best. It is far from being Shakespeare's best little -comic role; even so, it is weakly ortrayed here, by Keith Dinicol. Launcelot Gobbo may be saucy to his employers' friends and his other servants and he may be lazy, but he insults the intelligence of the other roles by his absolute flippancy as played here. He is flippant without be- ing comic. However, the real feast is for the eyes. This is a very visual production. All the masked figures, many of them obviously children, who hide behind the masks, do look like death's heads. The costumes are not only vivid, they are opulent and are aided by stage props of a kind rarely seen elsewhere. The kids will love this "Merchant of Venice". The grandparents will love it, and you will need go to to censor the cultural goodies they are attacking. This "Merchant of Venice" is a play to think about, to ponder the major issues of life and death, and in lighter vein, just to sit back and enjoy. Perhaps the KKK wouldn't like it. Perhaps they would,