Lake Braddock Secondary School's Cappies' entry "A Piece of My Heart," is as much a historical lesson for the participants as it is an personal discovery about politics, beliefs and family political values surrounding war.
On the surface, the play deals with six nurses in Vietnam during the war. Under that, the students are exploring their own beliefs based on their parents experiences at that time and the war in Iraq.
Lauren Rife plays Martha O'Neil, one of the six nurses. Her father's in the army and went to Desert Storm. Her grandfather served in Vietnam and her great-grandfather was in World War II. She tried talking to her grandfather but their discussions about his experiences was minimal. A nurse from the war came in to talk to the class in preparation for the play.
"We had a lady come in and talk to us about it, it was so incredible. Seeing her and how it affected her was good," Lauren said. In one scene their airplane was being bombed when it was landing, similar to a real experience the nurse had as well.
"She said it really happened to her," she said.
Corrina Beall, 16, also plays a nurse. Her parents participated in the anti-war movement in the 1960s and Corrina's experience with the play opened a dialogue with her parents about it. It also opened her eyes to a different view.
"They told me a lot of experiences about the war and their friends. At first I was weirded out because all I knew was their anti-war stance. I have to look at both sides now instead of just my parents' side," Corrina said. Her parents rented Vietnam movies "Platoon," and "The Deer Hunter," and they all watched it together.
Michelle Salomon is the head nurse. Her father's friend was killed in the war and she looks at what is happening now overseas. Her brother's friend is currently in the Marines.
"It's almost ties in with stuff that's happening now," she said.
Salomon noticed the change in her character's attitude upon arrival in Vietnam.
"Right off the bat they get rid of the romantic illusions. A lot of those people don't feel like heroes," she said.
One afternoon, the class got together and discussed their feelings about the war, although all the students were born some 12 years after the war ended.
"A whole group of us got together and talked about the war, I know a lot more about the war. And then we talked about Iraq," Corrina said.
Lauren wasn't part of that discussion but knows there are other views in the class. She backed up her stance.
"I don't always agree on the decisions our government makes but I support the troops," she said, pointing out incidents in Bosnia and Kosovo where Americans were killed. "It's been very informative," she said of her whole experience.
DUE TO THE SNOW days effect on other plays, they finally got their chance to rehearse on stage on March 3. R.L. Mirabal, the drama teacher at Lake Braddock, directed the students. They're using '60s music to set the scene.
"When the Jimi Hendrix opening begins," he motioned students down the stairs.
Lyn Osborn described the scenes.
"It starts here and ends here, and then flashbacks," Lyn said.
The rehearsals will go on until March 20 when they have a reading for a group of Vietnam Veterans. Then the play starts in early May. Mirabel's class did the play in past years and intended this year to perform the show on their trip to Edinburgh, Scotland, before the trip was canceled due to world events.
Meg Seay remembers discussing the Vietnam War in class but didn't learn about it the way she did on the stage.
"We don't cover it as deep as we should, it's something people our age should know about," she said.
Mirabal wasn't directly involved in discussions among the students. In high school, history lessons virtually skipped over the Vietnam War.
"We are also in agreement that the treatment of veterans and military when they returned was appalling," he said.
Kira Walsh, a student critic, is not in the play this year but was part of the cast two years ago and remembers it being emotional.
"We went and visited the wall (Vietnam Memorial), we all cried," she said.