Act 1, Part 1 Summary

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 drops to his knees, seizing the grenade...