A Piece of My Heart - Ivoryton Playhouse

War is hell.  And since the Vietnam War, it has been brought into our homes via the airwaves – the death, destruction, and, occasionally, lighter moments.   Today, the impact of what seems like daily reports from around the world, while not dulling our senses, has numbed our attitudes and impressions of conflicts.  This is the issue with the well-acted and directed play, A Piece of My Heart, at the Ivoryton Playhouse.  Playwright Shirley Lauro’s 1991 work (based on interviews she conducted with 26 women who served in the Vietnam War in 1986) feels dated, like watching an old newsreel.  This is not to negate their sacrifices and horrific conditions they faced in Southeast Asia or their troubles acclimating back into society.  However, most of the time, I was just not too engaged with the scenes that unfolded on stage.

 

The cast of A Piece of My Heart.  Photo by Jonathan Steele.

Lauro has synthesized the conversations with her subjects into the creation of six characters, mostly young women nurses who volunteered for their assignments thinking of glamour and travel.  The beginning of Act I relates their varied backstories and then, when they arrive in Vietnam, the harrowing realism of war.  Lauro pulls no punches with graphic descriptions of life during wartime, the medical facilities, operating room, and post-op recoveries.  Every so often she leavens the nightmarish conditions with levity, mostly singing, led by entertainer Mary Jo.  Act II brings forth their lives stateside as all six women seek normalcy as they reenter society. 

 

Members of the cast of A Piece of My Heart.  Photo by Jonathan Steele.

Director Jacqui Hubbard keeps the action and actresses in constant movement on Kim Zhou’s appropriately designed minimalistic set that includes platforms, ramps, pieces of corrugated metal, and chain-link.  She incorporates Qier Luo’s fitting lighting design and Rhian Franchebois’ punctuating sound effects of gunfire, explosions, and approaching helicopters.  The show unfolds as ever-changing tableaux under Hubbard’s adept guidance, allowing each story a chance to breathe.  She deftly blends in music from the 60’s and 70’s, which adds to the backdrop of the time period.  The show would have more impact if condensed into a single Act.  Some scenes run too long, such as the Act II subplot of a daughter suffering from Agent Orange.

 

Oliva Fenton, Alicia Kaori, and Autumn Eliza Sheffy in A Piece of My Heart.  Photo by Jonathan Steele.

The strength of A Piece of My Heart is the ensemble of actresses (and one sole actor) that bring to life the accounts of the women who served their country.  Too often their stories were pushed to the side.  But the performers - Mandy Evans, Olivia Fenton, Angela Hall, Alicia Kaori, Allie Seidbold, Autumn Eliza Sheffy, and Galen Donovan, who plays an assortment of the male roles in the show – wonderfully bring the angst, horrors, and resilience of the women to the fore.  For whatever shortcomings of the play, the actresses bring an emotional grist that animates the assorted stories. 

 

Alicia Kaori, Galen Donovan, and Oliva Fenton in A Piece of My Heart.  Photo by Jonathan Steele.

A Piece of My Heart, playing at the Ivoryton Playhouse through October 25.  Click here for dates, times, and ticket information.

A Lesson From Aloes - HartBeat Ensemble

A Lesson from Aloes, by South African playwright Athol Fugard, is being given a noteworthy production by HartBeat Ensemble, playing at the Austin Arts Center on the Trinity College campus. 

 

Brian Jennings, Rebecka Jones, and Godfrey L. Simmons in A Lesson From Aloes.  Photo by Nick Caito.

 

The play, written in 1978, during the heightened conflict of the apartheid regime in the country, takes place in 1963.  We learn that Piet (Brian Jennings), an Afrikaner and former bus driver, has, years earlier,  left his position and taken up the cause of racial injustice with Steve (Godfrey L. Simmons Jr.), a Black South African and leader of the resistance.  In the process, the two have become fast friends.  But the years have not been kind.  Steve has just been released from jail for his actions, and Piet’s wife, Gladys (Rebecka Jones), is on the verge of another mental breakdown after previously being institutionalized.  Piet is alone with his aloe plants after being shunned by friends and colleagues on suspicion of being the police informer who sent his friend to prison.

 

Brian Jennings, Rebecka Jones, and Godfrey L. Simmons in A Lesson From Aloes.  Photo by Nick Caito.

Act I has Piet and Gladys in preparation for a farewell meal for Steve and his family, as the one-time activist is being forced to leave for England.  We learn about the lives Piet and Gladys share, and the emotional turmoil they have experienced in the police state.  In Act II, Steve arrives…alone.  There is a mistrust in the air as he suspects Piet of being the traitor.  In bitter, highly charged conversations, the politics of freedom, loyalty, and friendship are dissected and, in the end, obliterated.

 

 

Godfrey L. Simmons in A Lesson From Aloes.  Photo by Nick Caito.

 

Fugard, who knew firsthand the devastating impact of apartheid on his people, slowly builds the tension of the play from playful banter to the shattering finale.  There is a passionate emotional quality that weaves its way throughout the production.  While the encounters between characters can be riveting, some portions of the show, primarily in Act I, could have been shortened to make the play leaner and even more captivating.

 

Brian Jennings in A Lesson From Aloes.  Photo by Nick Caito.

Director Vernice Miller allows the action to unfold at an unhurried pace, letting Fugard’s dialogue be the guide.  There are many instances of silence and patience, which heighten the verbal sparring between husband and wife, and the two friends. 

 

Rebecka Jones and Brian Jennings in A Lesson From Aloes.  Photo by Nick Caito.

The three seasoned performers are superb, fully realizing their characters’ strengths and weaknesses.  Brian Jennings imbues Piet with an inner fortitude and an outward effusiveness that belies his private struggles.  The actor is at his best when just standing, staring, and allowing the accusations to pelt him.  Like the aloe plant in the title of the play, he is hardy sole even in such a hostile environment.  Rebecka Jones effectively infuses the character of Gladys with a somber, anxiety-ridden dread that encapsulates the mistrust and fright from a political state.  As with Jennings, her silent terrors speak volumes.  Godfrey L. Simmons Jr., the Artistic Director of HartBeat Ensemble, but also an accomplished actor who has recently graced the stages of Theaterworks Hartford and Hartford Stage, is like a cornered large cat waiting for the opportunity to strike.  He prowls the stage, eyes searching for potential dangers as he confronts Piet and is verbally goaded by Gladys.  Simmons doesn’t just appear in Act II.  He envelopes it.

A Lesson From Aloes, playing at the Austin Arts Center on the Trinity College campus through October 17.  Click here for dates, times, and ticket information.