After almost a year’s worth of work, the Mid-Ohio Valley Players are finally closing the curtains on a play about the women who went to Vietnam.
The company represented the Southeastern Ohio region at the Ohio Community Theatre Association’s State Festival and Competition during Labor Day weekend. The play was evaluated at the regional level in June and was selected from three entrants to represent the region at the state competition.
Kevin Paskawych, the director of the play, said he was honored to represent the area with a play that the actors have put so much time and effort into.
The drama, A Piece of My Heart, is based on the book by Keith Walker. The play focuses on the lives of six women — an intelligence specialist, a Red Cross worker, three nurses and a USO entertainer — before, during and after their time in Vietnam.
For one actress, it was not hard to imagine herself in a military setting. Debbie Lawson, who played Leeann, served in the U.S. Army from 1985 to 1990.
“I was afraid I would be too emotional doing it,” Lawson said. “I can’t completely get into a scene (during rehearsals) because of how hard it is to do. I’ll do it onstage but not in rehearsals. It’s hard to pull back from.”
At the regional and state competitions, the plays are given ratings of Merit, Excellence and Outstanding in various categories. At the regional level, Lawson and fellow actress Heather Hepburn, who played Steele, won Excellence in Acting; Paskawych received Merit in Directing; the cast won Excellence in Ensemble and the sound designer, Josh Martin, received Excellence in Sound. At the state level, only Hepburn won for Merit in a Dramatic Musical Moment.
“We went and did the best that we could,” said Karen Pratt-Paskawych, who played Whitney. “I think it was the best performance of A Piece of My Heart that we’ve put on … We learned so much.”
Part of that learning came from watching other excerpts of contesting plays while also attending the many workshops set up during the weekend. One of which was instructed by Lawson, who spoke on volunteer management.
“We’re bringing back a lot of information that will benefit our community as a whole,” Lawson said. “We watched a lot of plays that make us want to do them. It’s one thing to read it and another to see someone’s interpretation.”
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