A Piece of My Heart

Reviewed by Holly Bartges

In a once upon a time dentist office nestled in Westminster, 12 actors leave a piece of their hearts in the corner of a small room marked as their stage. Running the gambit of stage experience, the 12, under the banner of Spotlight Theatre, take on Shirley Lauro’s award-winning play A Piece of My Heart.

They wear it, breathe it, live it. Under the direction by Seana Phillis, and Executive Producer Pat Payne, Spotlight Theatre proves a theatre can have an impact with few trappings to hide behind. A scant light board with only a few spots, lights the way with deliberate poignancy. Anthony Ventola designed the lighting knowing full well how to make use of what he had to work with. What this group does have is passion for what they are doing. It shows.

A Piece of My Heart zeroes in on Vietnam, during and after with the affects it had on six young, innocent women who ended up as nurses in the armed services. All looking for something meaningful to do with their lives, or for something to fill in the gap until something meaningful grabbed their attention. All of them looking for romance. All of them looking for something spectacular. All of them thinking they could do some good. None of them knowing precisely what they were getting into.

Six characters with 12 actors. Scott Glennon plays The Men, all 26 of them. 26, I think. I may have lost count. There’s Martha. Older Martha is played by Lisa Lowrey who looks back over the why’s, howÕs, and what for’s of her life, with Younger Martha played by Kaliea Devi. Bonnie Green plays Older Sissy with Younger Sissy being played by Catherine Smith. Sharon Owen plays Older Whitney, and Younger Whitney played by Ashley Rehder. Kerry McGuire plays older Leanne, and Lindsey Calvert plays Younger Leanne. Lyss Lujan plays older Steele, with Calvert also playing Younger Steele. All nurses trapped in a blood bath of desperation and horror with no time to process the reality of war, always under commands and demands of superior officers who have found a way to dehumanize their environment. The one exception is Mary Jo, lead singer for an all girl band, The Sugar Candies, sent to entertain the troops. Karen Krause plays the Older Mary Jo, while Debe Hultgren plays the Younger. With guitar in hand, Krause punctuates precise moments in the play with haunting portions of different songs.

Through narration by the Older Women, the play follows several short vignettes of their Nam experiences. Their isolation, desperation, death before their eyes, loss of limbs, pools of blood, shortages of supplies, confusion, and helplessness, When given the opportunity, they party. They find themselves willing to do anything to grab a moment to forget the reality surrounding them. They learn to drink, and drink hard. They learn to smoke pot because the guys do. And they’ll do anything to secure a tiny bit of affection, closeness and warmth in a world where there is no affection, closeness and warmth.

In an email from Lauro, she wrote, “You may be interested in knowing Heart is now the third largest seller at Samuel French (the play publishers — nearly 1,000 productions all around the world including South Africa, England, Scotland, and a tour in Russia. It was honored at the 10th Anniversary of the Dedication of the Commemorative Statue of Vietnam nurses with performances at the gates to Arlington Cemetery in DC. And there was another production Memorial Day Week-end at sunset in the L.A. Vets Cemetery with 4,000 vets in attendance.”

The six women grow up fast with humiliation, impossible commands, confused broken hearts, all the while facing the cruel reality the Big Brass aren’t interested in fielding their complaints, or listening to them in any way shape or form. Their instructions are: “Don’t think. Do your job.”

They survive. Elated to return home, they find themselves face to face with war protesters who attack them, spit on them, and berate them. Mary Jo expecting a year’s pay from her agent gets distain and a check to cover her airfare. They discover the expertise they have gleaned from raw circumstances, are ignored in the civilian world.

The 12 actors throw themselves into their roles with understanding way beyond their years and experience. The older characters are on stage most of the time, waiting for their moment. They do need to be reminded to stay within the bounds of their character while waiting and moving into place. It would behoove the director to work with some of the inexperienced actors to concentrate on hand and arm movements, which become repetitive and out of character. A few of the lines lose their emotional impact, spoken as lines rather than emotional reactions.

Calvert especially stands out playing her two roles but also that of a Vietnamese woman. She quickly and easily changes personas, and showing amazing potential. Glennon bounces from wounded GI’s to GI’s on the move, to Captains, Colonels and Generals, keeping them clear and concise. He shows remarkable breathing control as a dying soldier. When the body is carried out, Glennon’s chest doesn’t give away the fact this is a breathing actor. A significant point that many professional actors never achieve.

In many ways this small theatre in Westminster does as fine a work as many professional theatres. With fine-tuning Spotlight could take A Piece of My Heart from a very good production to outstanding.

Lauro added in her email, “And you might mention to the people there, it’s gratifying to know what a good production they’ve mounted there.” Relevant, pertinent, poignant, tender, heart-rending, Spotlight has indeed mounted a very good production that deserves attention not only by what it says, and how it says it, but also by those who do the saying. A powerful play, beautifully written that speaks loudly to the world in which we live, and offered with great respect by a cast who obviously cares about what they do, and a theatre that flies on a shoestring and prayer, but it flies.