Set during the Vietnam War in the late 1960's, this play tells the story of a young American soldier's struggle to find a new identity for himself as "a good soldier." Powerful visual imagery combines with raw language to create a vivid sense of atmosphere, while the play's structure and movement back and forth through time defines its meaning through juxtaposition, rather than straightforward narration.
In a bar in Vietnam, Pavlo struggles drunkenly to remain standing, as he talks ramblingly to a Vietnamese barmaid/prostitute (Yen, pronounced Ing) and another drunken soldier. He tells about a girl named, Joanna, that he was involved with, about how his mother wrote Joanna a letter calling her a "slut," and how he lost his temper when he found out.
A grenade is thrown into the room. "Pavlo.....
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