Great Divide: A Clara Barton Story
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. Interwoven with a dreamlike river narrative, the play asks what it means to keep serving a country that is always trying, and failing, to mend itself.
Characters
Clara Barton
Teacher, Civil War nurse, relief organizer, advocate, and founder of the American Red Cross.
Narrator
Carries the recurring river imagery and the wider American frame of the story.
Staging & Technical Requirements
Spare and abstract. Sound is especially useful for river, battle, disaster, and memory transitions. Minimal props are required; lighting and sound can carry most shifts in time and place.