On September 18th and 19th, CLOTA's Center Stage Readers will proudly present a free staged reading of Shirley Lauro's "A Piece of My Heart."
This powerful and compelling play was adapted from a collection of stories of the same name, written by Keith Walker. Walker's book, which was also the inspiration for tv's China Beach, is succinctly subtitled "The Stories of 26 American Women Who Served in Vietnam." Lauro's play compiles those stories and narrows the scope down to focus on 6 fictional women - three nurses (Anne Schreckengost, Mahealani Taaga, Katherine Fox), an army intelligence officer (Arcee Duag), a Red Cross "Donut Dolly" (Dianna Taylor) and the lead singer of an all-girl band touring with the USO (Mackenzie Lucas).
The play offers a particular challenge for actors – everyone plays multiple roles. As the stories weave in and out of each other, each woman steps into the others' stories, representing instructors and officers, mothers and daughters. One male actor (Evan White) plays all of the American men the women meet along the way. And since a reading is done without the technical aspects of a full production, even the narrator (Ellen Bryant) will be pulling extra duty, creating a myriad of sound effects.
Live readings of "A Piece of My Heart" will be presented at 7:30pm, September 18, & 2pm, September 19, at CLOTA Center Stage, 1425 N Inyo St. Admission is free, but donations are gratefully accepted. This play contains adult content and language.
For further information please call CLOTA at 760-446-2411
