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[Leontina Heidgerken]

Thequality of mercy is slightly strained by casting movie star Kelly McGillis as Portia in Shakespeare's ``The Merchant of Venice,'' as director Michael Langham has in his innovative production now at the Folger Theatre. Ms. McGillis is the tall, blond beauty who starred in the hit films ``Witness'' as an Amish widow and ``Top Gun'' as a United States Air Force astrophysicist. Between films, she starred at Kennedy Center in the American National Theater production of ``A Sea Gull'' (as director Peter Sellars retitled the Chekhov play). Neither the bird nor the plane nor the thriller roles prepared her for the superwoman challenge of Portia in one of Shakespeare's most demanding parts for an actress. McGillis is an accomplished actress with a stunning radiance on stage, but she is not yet a complete Portia, and until she is, this ``Merchant of Venice'' is often more of a romp than a poetic play.

For Portia must be not only lovely and witty. She must be judicious, authoritative, and imposing enough to convince not only the court but the moneylender Shylock (Brian Bedford) that he cannot have the pound of flesh Antonio, the merchant of Venice, has forfeit for the 3,000-ducat debt he owes. She must have that grave demeanor, that sense of high seriousness known in Latin as gravitas. And she, disguised in men's clothing, must also convince her husband, Bassanio (the friend for whom Antonio has borrowed the money), that she is a young but learned judge.

McGillis as Portia is charming, girlish, giddy (she giggles a lot), and simply smashing looking in her Venetian silks. She makes a lovely Portia in the scenes in which her suitors, according to her father's will, must choose among the caskets of lead, silver, and gold to claim her in marriage. She really cavorts through the role, displaying a special gift for comedy.

But in the important courtroom scene and particularly in that crucial speech to Shylock (``The quality of mercy is not strain'd;/ It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven/ Upon the place beneath...''), she is not compelling. The mercy speech is the acid test of a Portia; McGillis gets a passing grade, but no A. It may have been opening-night jitters, but her voice seemed uneven, sometimes sounding classically Shakespearean, sometimes light and contemporary. (Last year another statuesque film actress, Sigourney Weaver, played Portia Off Broadway. In contrast to McGillis's girlish Portia, Miss Weaver brought a formidable grace to the role, a womanliness that seemed more in character.)

As a result, Mr. Bedford's Shylock is the true star of this ``Merchant of Venice.'' The British actor gives a masterly performance, slicing into the soul of the Jewish moneylender who has suffered bitterly from the anti-Semitism of Renaissance Venice. Bedford's Shylock, unkempt and shambling when we first see him, turns with loathing on the Christian merchant Antonio and reminds him that he'd called Shylock a dog, a misbeliever, and spat on him. ``And for these courtesies I'll lend you thus much moneys?'' Shylock asks.

Bedford in his probing performance shows us how Shylock's wounds and pride have steeped, along with his miserliness and his grief at the loss of his daughter to a Christian, to create the lethal revenge he wants on Antonio. In one of Mr. Langham's most effective scenes, Shylock delivers his famous ``I am a Jew'' speech as an angry outburst as children taunt him in the street: ``If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?'' Because of this carefully honed characterization, we understand his Shylock in court, as impressive-looking and implacable as an Old Testament prophet in demanding justice.

The spirited cast includes Geoffrey Lower as a handsome, ardent Bassanio, Jack Ryland as a staunch Antonio, and Kevin Black as an impetuous Lorenzo who makes off with Shylock's daughter Jessica, played with 'elan by Michele Farr. Philip Goodwin, who plays Portia's suitor, the Prince of Arragon, as a pompous fop, is delightful in this strong cast, which includes Lucy Brightman as his mother, Robert Jason as a dashing Prince of Morocco, John Seidman as Shylock's servant Gobbo, and Emery Battis as Gobbo the elder.

Under Langham's imaginative direction, this ``Merchant of Venice'' is a fast-paced, entertaining, and vivid evening in the theater. No dozing among the groundlings for this show. Contributing to this effect are the stunning costumes by Susan Hirschfeld and clever set design by Douglas Stein, who manages to turn the Folger's small stage into a marble and wrought-iron impression of Venice. There is also some caroling of Renaissance music by Stephen Douglas Burton in case the music of Shakespeare's words - ``the sound of shadow,'' ``the gusts of heaven'' - is not enough for you.

Monitor journalism changes lives because we open that too-small box that most people think they live in. We believe news can and should expand a sense of identity and possibility beyond narrow conventional expectations.

A crumb from the upper crust, he's eager to uphold the traditions of his family, and in particular, his mother, a distinguished Admiral of the Imperium. Of course, he's aware of the importance of always having simply smashing tailored uniforms on hand, and having his camera ready to record memorable moments for his scrapbook.

In the meantime, a charismatic leader has arisen who seems able to control the minds of anyone he meets, and may be on his way to taking over the entire galaxy. Can Kinago's aristocratic bearing and unbridled snobbery stand up to such a challenge? Fortunately, his constant companion, the unflappable Jeeves, er, Parsons, is on hand to look after the young, impulsive master, and somehow help his charge bumble his way through, perhaps even saving the galaxy in the process.

Over the next few weeks, a lot of you will be undertaking exams. Whether you are a first-year sitting your first exam or a final-year completing your last exam we are here to offer some tips to make sure that you perform to the best of your abilities.

Exams can be a daunting experience. The pressure to perform well can lead to stress, anxiety, and poor performance. However, there are ways to increase your chances of success during an exam. Here are some tips to help you achieve success on test day:

Cramming for an exam can be a stressful and overwhelming experience and it isn't recommended. However, due to the busy nature of student life, exams can sneak up on you and you may be forced to cram a lot of revision time into a short period.

Whether you have been procrastinating or are simply struggling to keep up with the material, cramming can help you retain crucial information and perform better on your exam. Here are some tips to help you effectively cram for an exam:

Bill 64 smashes democracy (elected school boards), knowledgeable and experienced educational leadership (superintendents), professional collegiality (principal-teacher relationships), and parental supports (parent-school trust). In the process, it breaks public schools as we know them.

Principals, who now become solitary civil servants arbitrarily removed from their professional organization, are assigned the role of plant supervisors over teachers, who are also relegated to civil-servant status as employees of people they will never meet.

Together, they create not a palatable omelette, but eggs so scrambled as to not be recognizable as once being eggs. Gone is a public school system, governed by the public for the sake of the public, preparing children to take their place in the public to continuously renew the public realm through democratic participation.

Other provinces have introduced or attempted virtually the same experiments, some already abandoning them as not working and contradictory to democratic values. Nova Scotia, after a short period without, has reintroduced elected school boards, recognizing that a centralized government could not provide the same level of responsiveness and accountability as locally elected trustees. Quebec, after consideration, rejected the elimination of school boards.

Alberta and Saskatchewan kept their school boards and took away their power to tax, but are seriously considering reinstating some means by which boards can raise finances more locally for local initiatives.

In all heavily centralized authoritarian systems, teachers report not having anyone to turn to if they need assistance or support, unable to access unresponsive and indifferent centralized bureaucracies. Parents complain about the same, basically having no one to turn to under inflexible, but required, official procedures and lengthy communication hierarchies.

Perhaps the greatest casualties of Bill 64 are truth and trust. Even during the K-12 Education Review, goodwill and mutuality prevailed. If passed, Bill 64, based as it is on false premises and divisiveness, will result in predictable and endless contention with no positive end in sight. A common world sustained by a public education for all children will be simply a faraway illusion.

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