A Piece of my Heart
A Piece of my Heart, directed by James P. Darvas, is a touching and powerful play. The play follows six women, through their experiences in Vietnam. Each character reveyals the reasons why they decide to join the cause, their trials and tribulations, and how the war would come back to haunt them.
Onstage Playhouse’s take on A Piece of my Heart by Shirley Lauro
The Onstage Playhouse, located near Third and F Street in Chula Vista’s Third Avenue Village, is a small venue, that accommodates 60 playgoers. Unlike many other large venues, the Onstage Playhouse uses the relatively small space to its advantage. When the actors begin to speak, and address one another, the confined space keeps the audience locked in, and keeps the connection intimate. The space breaks down the fourth wall, making the audience feel as though they are joining the Red Cross, and gearing up to go war.
The play, based on the book A Piece of My Heart: The Stories of 26 American Women Who Served in Vietnam, written by Keith Walker, follows six strong independent female characters that come from all over the United States, and the actors do an extremely great job at portraying the accents, mannerisms and ideologies of each of the women, that don’t exactly follow a black and white take on the war. Leanne, a half-Chinese, half-Italian, who strongly opposes the war, and decides to join the Red Cross in hopes of furthering her career. In contrast, Martha is the daughter of a career military father, who discovers that Vietnam is more than she bargained for. Sissy, a naïve but sweet girl from a religious Pennsylvania home, who falters with her own views of her faith, and Whitney, a graduate from Vassar that isn’t as prepared for the task as she thought she was. The scenes of pure chaos inside the nurse’s tents, leaves the audiences clenching their teeth and sitting at the edge of the chair.
Steele, a frustrated career intelligence officer with 19 years of experience decides to head to Vietnam, trying to make a difference, but gets thrown on the sidelines due to prejudice. Last but not least the charismatic Maryjo, an entertainer brought to sing for the boys with the USO. Her captivating voice and smile brings the good times that all six of the women had, along with the trying times that they endured.
Strong themes of life, happiness, death, and violence gives this piece and extremely powerful contrast that flows deep within the audience. The rejection of their return back from the war, brought audible sniffles from the playgoers.
With its closing weekend approaching fast, I highly recommend checking out the Onstage Playhouse with this fantastic piece. The last grand finale will take place on Saturday, October 14th and tickets are going fast.
