Since the Vietnam

War ended, the tales of many people's experiences in the war has been

shared in many forms. Aside from the popular television program "China

Beach," the contributions that women made to the war effort have

gone seemingly unheralded. The military did not keep records of how many

women served during the war and only recently did the Vietnam War Memorial

add a part to the memorial that acknowledged the women who died in Vietnam.

A book, "Piece

of My Heart" was written by Keith Walker and Shirley Lauro created

a play based on that book, chronicling the experiences of several women

before, during and after the war and now Southside Theatre Guild will

present that play.

"Piece

of My Heart" focuses on six women who served in Vietnam in may capacities.

Three women in the play served as nurses, one served as a Red Cross worker,

one served as an intelligence officer and one served as a USO entertainer.

The play follows them from making their decision to enter the war, their

experiences while in Vietnam and the aftermath as they returned home,

forever changed by their time in the war.

The show is

directed by Jackie Williams who has directed seven plays for Southside

Theatre Guild including "Driving Miss Daisy," which had the

smallest cast and "The Wizard of Oz," which had the largest

cast. The cast includes Vicki Lorton as Leeann, Kelly Cirillo as Martha,

Rebecca Kling as Mary Jo, Sarah Davenport as Sissy, Nylsa Dunbar as Steele

and Amber Hoff as Whitney. Joey Ellington plays all the male roles in

the vignettes of the play, totaling over 25 roles.

"Piece

of My Heart" has a very minimal stage setting, filled with black

ramps, platforms, benches, silhouettes behind curtains and a portion of

the set that will light up to represent the Vietnam War Memorial.

"I was

very young when Vietnam was going on," said Williams. "I didn't

realize what people went through, especially women who were very torn

and had to build up walls in order to keep going throughout the war. It

also gave me a better understanding of veterans, especially of veterans

of Vietnam who weren't treated especially well when they returned."

Williams warns

that the show features adult themes and some adult language, though she

explains that it is not gratuitous.

"Piece

of My Heart" will run at 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday through Feb. 8.

Admission is $10 for all seats on Thursday and $12 for adults and $10

for children. Phone 770-969-0956 or visit www.stgplays.com.

Back

to the Top of the Page