Lincoln Drama Presents “A Piece of My Heart”

The Lincoln Drama Department is getting ready for their spring production of A Piece of My Heart by Shirley Lauro. The play will be performed on April 18, 19, and 20 at 7:00 p.m. in the Lincoln Auditorium. Tickets are $6.00 at the door and $3.00 for students with SATs. All veterans are invited to attend the performances free of charge.

Drama teacher Karen Sissel recently sat down with a Des Moines Register reporter to talk about the spring play. Some of her answers are below.
Question: Why did you pick this production?

Karen Sissel: I was at a conference regarding Fine Arts in the Iowa Core last summer and got into a discussion with other drama directors from around the state about what our best experience directing high school theater had been and one mentioned this show.  The other drama teachers all nodded their heads and made a point of saying what a great show it was.  I was unfamiliar with it, so I decided to read it and right away saw what a significant impact this show could have on the students working on it and for the audiences who come to see it.  The show is based on a collection of true stories women shared about their experiences in the Vietnam War.  The play delves into the lives of these women (nurses, Red Cross workers, intelligence officers and entertainers) and takes us through the transformation they experience as a result of going to the Vietnam War and then returning to civilian life in America.

Question: How are the kids doing?

Karen Sissel: They are doing an amazing job.  Each of the main characters stay on stage the entire run of the play and have a large number of lines to memorize, which they are working on diligently.  The students have to play multiple characters throughout the play and are doing a nice job transitioning between each character they play.

Question:How has this challenged them?

Karen Sissel: We found that most of the students knew very little about the war in Vietnam, so educating them about this piece of our history became our first goal.  Since then, we are seeing more and more connections between the Vietnam War and the wars of today.

Question: Why should the community turn out to see this?

Karen Sissel: Once a war has “ended” it is easy for the civilians who were not overseas fighting to simply move-on with their lives.  Through this play, we better understand that this is not the case for those who are directly involved in war.  More and more of our soldiers coming back from battle not only have to deal with the physical pain and trauma of war, but also have the emotional scarring to deal with.  Post-traumatic stress syndrome, something that was not even diagnosed after the Vietnam War, affects more soldiers than we will ever know.  It is important for our communities to be aware of what war can take out of those who fight for our country.  It is often nothing we can ever fix, but we can show our appreciation and need to do so every time the moment presents itself to us.

Community members, staff and students can help us give back just a little to our veterans by participating in a raffle we will hold during each intermission which will benefit the VA Central Iowa Health Care Center in Des Moines.  A raffle ticket will be handed out for every item brought in to donate to the VA hospital.  Audience members can participate by bringing needed items to the show and students and staff can donate by bringing the items to the drama room.  Items on the needs list for the VA Central Iowa Health Care Center include: coffee, coffee cups, disposable cups, plates, plastic silverware, blank CDs, steno spiral pads, phone cards, umbrellas, 2” three ring binders, key rings, nail clippers, sewing kits, reading classes (2-3 magnification), toilet paper, sun screen lotion, plastic hangers, plastic laundry baskets, small clock radios, brooms and dust pans, room fans, new men’s briefs and boxers, all sizes socks, sweat shirts, and sweat pants, packaged cookies and crackers, gas and grocery gift cards, toilet paper, feminine products (tampons/pads),  puzzle books, gift cards for local restaurants, puzzle and word find books, breath mints, gum, individually wrapped snacks to include microwave popcorn, and pens/pencils.