Both the Script and the Music Bundle for this play can be purchased on this page. Please ensure you have selected the appropriate product from the drop-down menu above the "Add to Cart" button.
The Script contains the music score. The Music Bundle contains recorded versions of the play's four "incidental" songs and the "curtain call" song (all instrumentals).
The Ypres Salient, West Flanders, Belgium. It is the night of May 2nd, 1915. Dr. John "Jack" McCrae returns to his dugout after leading the burial service of his friend, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer. Earlier in the day, "Lex" was killed by a direct hit of a shell while on his way to join his men at their guns. Sitting outside his dugout, John closes his eyes to rest. Opening them a few seconds later, he's not certain whether he's dreaming, or is in a more eternal sleep. Until he's sure, he decides to use the time to sort a few things out. Questions which have troubled him since childhood, and especially since coming to this particular battlefield, need answers. Questions concerning life, love, duty, conflict, and death. A surprising visit, in this strange reverie, by his mother, Janet, may help John in his struggle. Or, perhaps he'll need to purge the tormenting emotions. In a poem.
Keywords: drama, John McCrae, poet, soldier, doctor, Flanders, poem, dream
Produced by Guelph Museums at McCrae House, Guelph ON, 2015
Genre: Drama
Acts: 1
Run time: 60 minutes
Suitable for students 14+
Cast size: 2 actors
Male roles: 1
Female roles: 1
Cover art by Ann Stevenson.