(The cast of A Piece of My Heart. Photo Credit: Jonathan Steele)

by Tim Leininger

IVORYTON, CT — Much of our ruminations on war is focused on the trials and tribulations of the men who have predominantly gone to the frontlines to fight for our country. Rarely do the women who also went to the front receive the recognition they so richly deserve. At Ivoryton Playhouse, that oversight is being remedied with their production of Shirley Lauro’s powerful, heartbreaking play, A Piece of My Heart, directed by Jacqueline Hubbard, running through Oct. 25 at the playhouse at 103 Main St.

            A Piece of My Heart was a project by playwright Lauro where she interviewed 26 women who served during the Vietnam War. The play was originally produced in 1991 at both the Manhattan Theatre Club and the Actors Theatre of Louisville. The play doesn’t have 26 characters. Instead, it plays out more like a composite of these 26 accounts, truncated into six women, Whitney (Mandy Evans), Sissy (Olivia Fenton), Steele (Angela Hall), Leeann (Alicia Kaori), Mary Jo (Allie Seibold), and Martha (Autumn Eliza Sheffy). Most of the women, as presented, are military nurses, while Whitney is a member of the Red Cross, and Mary Jo is an entertainer.

(The cast of A Piece of My Heart. Photo Credit: Jonathan Steele)

            The first act recounts their journey to Vietnam, their expectations from what they’ve been told versus the harrowing truth of what the reality is in the war-torn country. The horrors of people dying around them with limbs missing, faces incinerated, and organs spilling, haunt them as they try to adapt to their mission. Their time with the GIs is recounted as well; some positive, as romances blossom, and some negative as substance, physical, and sexual abuses impact some of the women. Racism and sexism are prominent as well, as Leeann gets profiled for her mixed Asian/Caucasian heritage, and Steele is dismissed for being both Black and a woman. The second act addresses how these women cope with their experiences after returning stateside.

            Though layered with a lot of impactful stories A Piece of My Heart does suffer from some generalization. We fly through the stories at a breakneck speed so they can fit within a manageable 2-hour and 15-minute run time. What’s there is good, and the cast do an excellent job of carrying the weight of these stories on their more than capable shoulders, but we don’t get much time to work with one story before we’re thrust into another, leaving room for only partial updates on the first character.

(The cast of A Piece of My Heart. Photo Credit: Jonathan Steele)

            Director Hubbard and the cast do a great job in giving these ladies life, and a sense of background that may not necessarily be there. There is some information provided, but the cast embody their characters with a vast breadth of history that we never hear or see about, but is imbued behind the performances. There is one man in the cast, Galen Donovan, who plays all the men in the play, a difficult task, as some roles fit him better than others, but manages the diverse array of characters well.

            Kim Zhou’s scenic design is great. The stage is functional to the point that all the characters can move from one to another and redress the set in a matter of seconds to set up a new scene. There is an upstage wall that is used for projections — designed by Ein Kim — that has a moving, beautiful final reveal. Some of the projections do, unfortunately, hit the actors on stage, creating a distracting grid pattern on them. Qier Luo’s lighting, though, is some of the best lighting Ivoryton has created, evoking thematic contours and color throughout of blood-soaked hospital rooms and the psychological trauma they all experience.

(The cast of A Piece of My Heart. Photo Credit: Jonathan Steele)

            A Piece of My Heart has its problems. It’s necessarily rushed in the text, but Hubbard and her cast of six excellent ladies and one man, create a drama that carries with it a weight that reminds us of the women who served, so they may be underappreciated and forgotten no more.

TICKETS: https://www.ivorytonplayhouse.org/

PRODUCTION: Written by Shirley Lauro; Directed by Jacqueline Hubbard; Scenic Design: Kim Zhou; Lighting Design: Qier Luo; Sound Design: Rhian Franchebois; Projection Design: Ein Kim; Costume Design: Heidi Hanson; Props Design: Kat Schorn; Stage Manager: James Joseph Clark; Wig Design: Alexina Cristante; Assistant Stage Manager: Holly Price; Music Supervisor: Allie Seibold

CAST

Galen Donovan as All the American Men

Mandy Evans as Whitney

Olivia Fenton as Sissy

Angela Hall as Steele

Alicia Kaori as Leeann

Allie Seibold as Mary Jo

Autumn Eliza Sheffy as Martha