In Flanders Fields tells the story of America's involvement in World War I and how it personally affected both the soldiers and those they left behind. Its message is as strong as ever in our tumultuous world that has never found peace.

In Scene Two, we see five soldiers as they experience life in the trenches and their philosophies about fighting and surviving. The focus of Scene Three switches to the women back in America, who are working for the first time in their lives. Through their conversation, we get a picture of life on the home front—lack of food, anti-German sentiment, the significance of women in the factories, and their worries for the men in France. Scene Four returns to France as the men are enjoying their last day of leave in a French cafe. In an ironic twist, one of the soldiers meets the woman he's been dreaming about. She is a Broadway singer who is in France to entertain the troops. The scene ends on a poignant note as the soldier must return to the trenches and the singer tells him to come see her on Broadway, "if...when...he makes it out of there alive." The finale begins with the poem "In Flanders Fields" and gathers all of the cast on the stage. Each main character says a line from his/her role and the play ends with the final two lines of the poem, "In Flanders Fields the poppies blow/between the crosses row on row."

One act; costumes from 1917-1918; suggested music in the script. Simple set arrangements on the apron and floor to the right and left of the stage allow the scenes to flow quickly to the final scene on stage.

From the author: A few of the historical facts concerning the writing of the poem "In Flanders Fields" have been changed to fit the purposes of this play. While the poem was written by a man named McCrae in response to the horrors of war, the real John McCrae was a British soldier, not an American; he wrote the poem in 1915, not 1917. However, I hope that the play is true to the spirit in which the poem was conceived and that the characters give voice to the feelings experienced by people who lived during the time of the Great War.

See also: Plays About Death and War