Play tells pro-baseball story of 1940s Saskatchewan women
Saskatchewan AAGPBL players highlighted in Maureen Ulrich's Diamond Girls
The story of a few Saskatchewan women's experiences playing in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League is making its way to the theatre.
Diamond Girls, by playwright Maureen Ulrich, explores the story of three Saskatchewan girls who made it big in baseball between 1943 and 1954, when the AAGPBL came to an end.
Arleene Noga, Mary Baker and Daisy Junor all played baseball professionally as young women in the '40s.
According to the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame, Noga was an infielder who was scouted to play for the Fort Wayne Daisies in 1945.
This is a story that just, people really, really love.- Maureen Ulrich, playwright
Meanwhile Regina girls Baker and Junor went to the Southbend Blue Sox, with Baker becoming a champion catcher and Junor an outfielder and power hitter.
It's not the first time Baker and the AAGPBL has inspired the arts — the hit Hollywood film A League of Their Own is based on the league as well.
"This is a story that just, people really, really love. For whatever reason," Ulrich said.
Ulrich said she saw potential in a play that focused on the AAGPBL players who came from Saskatchewan, and quickly set to work writing it.
Getting the story right
In order to write the piece, Ulrich spent many long hours pouring through documents and old folders at the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame. She also interviewed a number of relatives of her three main characters.
"It was a pleasure, but I have to say that sometimes, I felt like I was giving them more information than I was getting.
"These things happened a long time ago and they didn't talk about them a lot."
Ulrich also spoke to Noga in person. Noga is the only one out of the three who is still alive, and lives in a home in Regina.
21 characters, 1 actor
Ulrich decided to focus on Saskatchewan girls Baker, Noga and Junor as some of the main characters in Ulrich's play.
But there's a catch.
She decided the women — and 18 other characters — would all be played by a single actor, Malia Becker from Regina.
"I had seen a terrific one person show at the Fringe in Saskatoon and already had the idea I'd like to do a one-person show and it just kind of grew from there," Ulrich said.
Ulrich said Becker uses props to transition between characters, so the audience is able to keep track of who she is portraying at any given moment.
"She is an incredibly gifted comedian and the way that she transitions from role to role is incredible," she said.
Diamond Girls will be performed in Regina on June 28. But before Ulrich is bringing a slice of the show to someone who made it all possible — Noga herself.
"We're going to do a little prior performance ... just do 20 minutes of the show for the residents."
Tuesday's main show will start at the Artesian at 7:30 p.m. CST.
With files from CBC's Abby Schneider