A Piece of My Heart' focuses on the untold stories from Vietnam

I have traveled this afternoon from our humble campus to the streets of Boston via the T. It is my hope that this afternoon will consist of arousing a certain degree of awareness of what exists beyond Medford, Massachusetts. My journey has taken me to the Leland Center Theater, if one can even begin to describe the four black walls that surround me, and the makeshift stadium-style seating of metal foldaway chairs a theater. I suppose it's a reminder that the art of theater can take place anywhere, even here.

The show is a drama titled A Piece of My Heart, which will be performed by the Delvena Theater Company April 17-19 and 24-26. The play is a Vietnam War drama which consists of the personal memoirs of women who have served in Vietnam, a number of whom are registered nurses. The performance itself has been dedicated to the memory of Lt. Sharon Ann Lane, an army nurse killed during a mortar attack made on the Vietnamese Ward of the 312th Evacuation Hospital, in Chu Lai, Vietnam.

The cast consists of six female actresses and one male actor. This male actor will play "All the American Men". This puzzles me, for how can one man serve to act as all the American Men who served in the war? But as the play unfolds before my eyes it becomes obvious.

The six women are the play's focal point; their lives the broader framework in which A Piece of My Heart evolves. To my surprise it is revealed that the United States Armed Forces never officially documented the hundreds of women who risked their lives in service of their country. A Piece of My Heart is a performance that confronts head-on many of the fundamental issues that still perplex us today about the war. The play stops at nothing to reveal the divisiveness of race, ethnicity, class, and even gender. These were issues that tore at the psyche of the human spirit while in the context of war.

As A Piece of My Heart opens, white light floods the room. Seated before the audience are Martha, Maryjo, Sissy, Leeann, Whitney, and Steele; six all-American girls wide-eyed with naivety and idealism. Martha is a navy nurse, who stands proud in her pressed navy blue uniform. "I'm a military brat," she confesses. Maryjo is a blonde, sweet-voiced folk entertainer who dreams of singing for the soldiers. Sissy is a brunette who seeks adventure: "I don't want to grow old, and rot away in good ol' Eerie, Pennsylvania." Leeann is half Asian; a spunky anti-war protestor who believes her efforts will support the soldiers, the unknowing victim of this war. Whitney is a Red Cross volunteer whose intentions are pure, and Steele is the iron-willed intelligence informant who hopes to confront the obstacles that hold her back in a racially-divided army.

These women candidly admit to their mistaken perceptions of early 1960's Vietnam, still a mysterious tropical paradise that scarcely occupies the minds of collective America. Sissy, a nurse played by actress Lynne Moulton, explains. "You see, you only volunteered for Vietnam," a mystifying statement indicative of their mistaken conjectures of what was occurring in Vietnam. Steele, played by actress Cheryl Singleton, describes the obstacles she faced as a woman of color: "They never tell you about how the army wants you, but they don't really want you." Here the irony of racial dividing lines is shown in a way that moves the audience.

Suddenly, the sounds of helicopters and gunfire are heard in the distance, and lights flash. The absolute chaos of war is exposed as the voices of all the women sound across the stage simultaneously. Each of these women has something very powerful to say: "I can't move. I can't talk. I can't do anything; I turn and look at the soldier and half his face is gone."

Nothing is left untouched in A Piece of My Heart, the drowning of pain in alcohol, sex, and drug use is explored. In addition, the play highlights the enduring scars that are left behind after the return to the States and the difficulties these women have in adjusting to life as civilians in an atmosphere where support for the war has dwindled.

Each of these women copes with the war with a sense of dignity, compassion, and perseverance that lasts even beyond their active service. Perhaps most striking about this performance is the ability of each of these actresses to master the skill of truly touching an audience. I left the Leland Theater truly able to say I had experienced theater at its best.