A Piece of My Heart by Shirley Lauro

For my next play, I read A Piece of My Heart by Shirley Lauro. I was the prop designer for this show when I was in high school, so I decided to revisit the play. A Piece of My Heart chronicles the lives and experiences of six women during the Vietnam War. The women come from vastly different backgrounds, and provide insight to what was happening though a woman's eyes. Each character was crafted in such a way that there is a very small chance an audience member can't relate to at least one of them. The first act of the play focuses on the women and how they were each thrown into the war and sent to Vietnam, and the terrors that they saw and endured there. The second act then depicts how their lives are different afterwards; how they are viewed differently by their peers, and how they themselves have been changed or broken.

I find this play to be expertly executed. I find that plays or films about wars are either good or bad; there is no middleground. It must be perfectly executed in order for it to work. especially since there are people who really have experienced those emotions. A Piece of My Heart took six completely different women, and strung them together perfectly through a series of scenes where each of them became closer and closer to one another.

One character that I felt drawn to was MaryJo, a young, idealistic woman who goes to Vietnam with her band to perform for the troops and give them hope. All of MaryJo's monologues are very charismatic and sweet, and her turning point is when she talks about how she was raped by some of the men after her performances. In addition, I also liked Whitney's pieces within the play. Whitney is another young woman who joins the Red Cross and becomes a nurse. Whitney describes the horrors she sees, especially durring the Tet Offensive.