Beowulf Alley Theatre Presents an Extra Presentation!
A Piece of My Heart by Shirley Lauro
As a follow up to our April production of Last of the Boys honoring our American soldiers’ families for their shared sacrifice, Beowulf Alley Theatre will continue its recognition of our military families with a three-week run of A Piece of My Heart by Shirley Lauro, adapted from the Keith Walker book of the same name. Whitney Morton will direct this poignant chronicle of the women of the Vietnam War.
This play will replace the originally scheduled Extra Presentation! selection, The Vertical Hour, with performances from May 28, 2010 through June 13, 2010. The theatre is located at 11 South 6th Avenue, 85701 in Downtown Tucson between Broadway and Congress.
More than 15,000 American women volunteered to serve in Vietnam. Many were wounded and eight were killed. Ms. Lauro’s play memorializes these brave women as it bring to life true stories of six courageous women who volunteered to serve their country and the men who were part of their lives. The women struggle to make sense of the war that irrevocably changed them and the nation that shunned them. Their every limit tested, A Piece of My Heart portrays their strengths, weaknesses and sheer endurance. It embraces the music, confusion, heroism, and idealism of the late 60s, portraying both the women’s sorrows and their intense joys and looks beyond politics to reflect on the incredible human experience of living and working in the midst of violence and chaos – and surviving. This tale of women in a conflict that forever changed America’s relationship to war is searingly relevant today amidst the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. It is important to educate our young people about the sacrifices and bravery of these young women, then in their late teens and early 20s, who are now the mothers and grandmothers of a new generation faced with a new kind of war.
A Piece of My Heart has earned The Susan Blackburn Prize (Finalist) as Best English Language Play by a Woman, The Barbara Deming Prize for Women Playwrights, and The Kittredge Foundation Award. The Vietnam Vets of America, Inc. has cited the work as "the most enduring play in the nation on Vietnam."
...Shirley Lauro's … play A PIECE OF MY HEART, is a catharsis as well as a coup de theatre...There have been a number of plays dealing with Vietnam...but none with the direct, emotional impact of Ms. Lauro's work...(she) has turned first hand impressions into a disturbing drama that evokes empathy for survivors as victims. -The New York Times
Performances are as follows:
Friday, May 28, 7:30 p.m. - Preview Performance
Saturday, May 29, 7:30 p.m. - Opening Night with Reception
May 30, 2010 1:30 p.m. - Dialogues with… Sunday, following the performance
Thursdays-Saturdays, June 3 – 5, June 10 – 12, 7:30 p.m.
Sundays June 6, June 13, 1:30 p.m.
For more information consult our website at www.beowulfalley.org.
