Customer Reviews

Piece of My Heart, A

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4 star:		(1)
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Our high school put onn this deeply moveing and emotional play. The story of 5 nurses, a singer, and a man goes from the present to the past and back again. No one wins in Veitanm and in a way, everyone dies. The man symbolizes everything bad, and the women, the human side of an inhumane war.

The Lafayette High School Theatre company presented this play to conclude the Missouri State Thespian Conference on January 6th, 2001. While the play itself is not the best piece of literature, the cast and crew molded it into a living, breathing monument to the men and women of the Vietnam war. The show recieved a standing ovation that started before the curtain call and lasted until the house lights were broguht up. The play recounts the lives of six women and one "all american men," and their stories from the war. At several points in the play, even the crew, who had seen the production several times over, were shaken with misty eyes. Indeed, even in an auditorium full of seasoned actors and techies, there was hardly a dry eye in the house. I recomend this play to those who are up to the emotional challange, as well as the techincal. I applaud my fellow Thespians!

My high school is currently in pre-production for A Piece of My Heart and I am on Sound Crew. Just reading it, you get a sense of great intensity and now that our first performance is in two days, I've seen it rehearsed dozens of times and you wouldn't believe the feeling you get watching it. We've had Viet Nam Veterans come to the school and guest speak through the week and every single one of them has said that the emotion and the scenes portrayed in this play are very reminiscent of the War. I haven't seen one person, who's sat through the whole thing, leave without the shedding of tears. It is very intense and very good, and if you haven't got the chance to see it, find it! Read the book! Something!

I am a 17 year old high school forensic student.. and I needed material for a dramtic interp.... I read this play and it really stole my heart... It drove home the horrors of a war that took place when my parents were my age.. and gave me a understanding of the pain and suffering caused by the horrors of this war... The play provides great material for acting pieces... for forensic competitions...and I did extremely well with the material this year... but more than that.. it gave me more compassion for the Vietnam Soldiers and nurses.

I have had the extreme good fortune to be involved with two productions of this masterpiece of theatre. I recently was lucky enough to direct this play in Kaiserslautern, Germany, where we performed on the Landstuhl Army Post at the hospital for wounded warriors, Vietnam veterans, and sufferers of PTSD, as well as other audience members from our military community. In my twenty-plus years in the theatre, I have never worked on any production that gave me a tenth of the emotional satisfaction this show did, nor have I ever felt so much like what I was doing was not just theatre but a morally necessary act of support and thanks for our service members. We were blessed to have in our cast several military members and a psychiatrist who deals with our PTSD victims as they reintegrate on their return from deployment to the Middle East. I was lucky enough to hear from some of her patients as well as from other members of the audience words that will stay with me forever: "It was me up there. It was like seeing myself on the stage. Thank you." A word of caution: if you are considering doing this show remember that it will change you. You will never be the same. It was the most difficult show I ever worked on, and any of my cast members would say the same without hesitation, and it will stay with us forever.

My school recently did this play for a musical. We normally only do two a year, but my theatre teacher felt the need to pu tthis one up. It is extremely appropriate for times such as we are facing with Iraq. As the description states, this play focuses on the life of six women. A male actor is used to portray all the male parts, for he represents evey man. This play brings to reality what women went through in during the Vietnam war. As nurses, some were tricked into joining or were told falsehoods and soon found themselves on their way to Vietnam against there greater desires. The realities of working as a nurse in a war zone, of being "just" a female in the male dominated military, and if being an entertainer in Vietnam without any protection from the army at all is brought to light. Also, the disrespect, the ignorance, and the hatred, the misunderstandings that some many vets from the Vietname War had to face is also shown. It is captivating enough on the page, though the literature is nothing revolutionary. When one sees it performed on stage with a cast we has taken this play to heart and made it there own coupled with excellent lighting and sound, the play becomes surreal, a sort of living nightmare brought to life. It also becomes a tale of human resilience , courage, and comradeship, presenting the best and worst of human nature. To quote a line from the play, "Getting a little crazy....Wanting to go (home), not wanting to go...Such a brotherhood. Such a sister hood. Like no other time. No other place on earth." It is one of those plays that stays with you long after the curtain has fallen.