A Piece Of My Heart

Martha+is+heartbroken+that+the+man+she+flew+to+Vietnam+with+is+leaving+on+a+plane+and+has+her+final+goodbye+with+him

Martha is heartbroken that the man she flew to Vietnam with is leaving on a plane and has her final goodbye with him

The drama department’s second play this year is about the Vietnam War. This story, about six women serving during the war features MaryJo, a young and energetic singer from Texas, played by Gia Acosta. Next is Whitney, a proper woman who just graduated top of her class from Vassar, played by Evelyn Hokanson. Then there is Steele, a strong, independent black women who used her strength from getting denied entrance into the army for the first time due to her skin color to do amazing things and finally be accepted into Vietnam, played by Ania Briggs. Next there is Leeann, a  hippie who just wants to help the wounded boys because she hates the war and she hates Nixon, played by Madison Sasaki. Next is Martha, raised by her parents, who both served in the army, making it her dream to one day serve, played by Christina King. And finally Sissy, who is from a small town and decided she didn’t want to rot in her home city forever so she takes a chance on joining the army, played by Abby Power.

The women in this play act as many characters. For example, they could be a nurse then a captain and then someone’s mother. The final character doesn’t  have a name in the play besides “Male Character.” He (Nate Johnson) plays every single male character in the whole play; in one scene he could be a wounded soldier and in the next he could be someone’s father and in the next he could be a taxi driver. 
In this play, five out of these six women are nurses, the other is a singer. In act one, the play shows all the stresses of being a nurse in the war. From dealing with up to 350 patients a day to having your patients die or being on red alert because of rocket attacks on the hospital. It also shows how hard it was for MaryJo, the singer, in Vietnam the only women you saw were the nurses taking care of you when your legs got blown off or when you were at the bar with some buddies watching MaryJo sing. Some bad stuff happened in Vietnam, MaryJo said, stuff that would’ve never happened at home. In act two it shows what happened after they came home from the war, how everyone protested against them and how people thought that people that served in the war were dirty and murderers, even the nurses helping the wounded men. It shows how hard it was to get a job and keep it and just the daily life of a Vietnam veteran.