2 performers · 60 minutes
Great Divide: A Clara Barton Story
The wounds that shaped a life
Synopsis
Clara Barton looks back across the wounds that shaped her life, from a brother’s childhood accident and Civil War battlefields to the Missing Soldiers Office and the founding of the American Red Cross. A dreamlike river runs through the whole piece, asking what continuous service means for a nation perpetually struggling to heal itself.
At a glance
What a producer needs firstCast
2 performers
Running time
60 minutes
Genre
Historical drama
Technical demand
Low, sound-led
Availability
Script on requestLicensed through Upstage Left Press
Characters
2 performers to cast
Clara Barton
Teacher, Civil War nurse, relief organiser, advocate, and founder of the American Red Cross.
Narrator
Provides the recurring river imagery and the broader American context.
Staging and technical requirementsLow, sound-led
Sparse and abstract with minimal props. Sound design is particularly important for transitions involving river imagery, battle, disaster, and memory shifts. Lighting and sound carry most of the temporal and spatial changes.
What you will need
- A company of 2 performers
- A slot of 60 minutes
- Technical capacity described as low, sound-led
- A performance licence, granted separately from the script
Themes
What it is really aboutI write plays to entertain in the truest sense of the word: to give serious attention to people, questions, and histories that are too often pushed aside.Jeanmarie Simpson, artist statement
In the classroom
Two performers and an hour. The most portable history piece in the repertoire, and a natural fit for a nursing, public health, or American studies programme as well as a theatre department.
From the archive
Select any photograph to enlarge
Performance rights
Stage it
Rights are available for universities, schools, community theatres, festivals, workshops, staged readings, and independent productions.
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