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FINDING CLARA

FINDING CLARA is the explosive story of two women: Mary Victoria Woolson (fictional North Carolina cotton mill worker) and Hollywood's silent screen "It Girl," actress Clara Bow.  Their stories unfold against the violent background of the infamous 1929 Loray Mill Strike in North Carolina and the murder of labor balladeer Ella May Wiggins. The play also is an intergenerational story, following the journey in 1990 of Mary Victoria's granddaughter, Clara Henderson, to discover the truth about her family and herself.  Finally, FINDING CLARA is a story about two people - one black (Dr. Louis Benjamin Washington) and one white (Mary Victoria Woolson) - who fall in love exactly in the wrong time and place, with far-reaching consequences. A play about lost hopes and dreams, about intolerance and racial hatred, and about the power of Hollywood to influence our actions and desires, FINDING CLARA was originally workshopped at Greensboro Cultural Center (NC), and subsequently won Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre's (SART) National New Plays contest and premiered at SART.  North Carolina Literary Review published sections of the play. Photo courtesy of SART.

Cast: 
MARY VICTORIA WOOLSON: Cotton mill worker; appears in all the play's time periods (1929, 1990 and "Heaven-Movie Land"). CLARA BOW: Silent screen actress famous in the 1920s as the "IT" girl (character based on real person); appears solely in the time period "Heaven-Movie Land." CLARA HENDERSON: 15-year old granddaughter of Mary Victoria Woolson; appears solely in 1990. ELLA MAY WIGGINS: Labor balladeer (character based on real person); appears solely in 1929. LOUIS BENJAMIN WASHINGTON: African-American doctor and community leader; appears in both 1929 and 1990. IDA: African-American mill worker and sister of Louis Benjamin Washington; appears in both 1929 and 1990. LOUISE: Mill worker; appears in both 1929 and 1990. ALICE: Mill worker; appears in both 1929 and 1990. The following two roles should be played by one actor: JAMES HENDERSON: Father of Clara Henderson. Recently unemployed textile manager; appears solely in 1990. JIMMY CONLON: Mill overseer and boyfriend of Mary Victoria; appears solely in 1929.
Authors: 
June Guralnick