From London to New York City to San Francisco, George Brant’s latest play Grounded is everywhere. And now Athens is being added to that high-profile list.
From London to New York City to San Francisco, George Brant’s latest play Grounded is everywhere. And now Athens is being added to that high-profile list.
In the drama, a pregnancy ends a fighter pilot’s career, and she is reassigned to operate military drones from a windowless trailer outside of Las Vegas.
Southeast Ohio’s professional theater company, the Brick Monkey Theater Ensemble, will present the play in the Hahne Theater in Kantner Hall for two weeks.
Brant’s interest in drones came after he read an article in the Columbia Journalism Review highlighting the increase in the use of drones from President Barack Obama’s first two years in office in comparison to President George W. Bush’s two terms. That was when Brant said he wanted to learn as much as he could about the remote-control missiles.
“I learned the (post traumatic stress disorder) rates were about the same for drone pilots and fighter pilots,” Brant said. “You think it’s a job that doesn’t ask much, but psychologically, damage was still being done, and that was something I really wanted to look into.”
Grounded also provides a new female perspective of war. The play’s only performer is female.
“Really only 2 percent of Air Force pilots are female so this is someone who has to be better than the boys to get where she’s at,” Brant said. “We’ve heard the story of war for thousands of years from the male perspective.”
Embodying the nameless pilot in Athens is Ohio University alumna Marissa Wolf. Wolf said she feels lucky knowing Brick Monkey has faith in her to carry the show, a challenge she has never faced before but is excited to meet.
Instead of reacting to other actors, Wolf said her character has a relationship with the audience, which is why Brant said he feels the play will do well in an intimate space like the Hahne Theater.
The play has found critical success in its many runs and was named one of the Top 10 London Plays of 2013 by The Guardian and London Evening Standard. It was also one of the most-produced plays of the 2013-2014 season, with 10 productions around the world all in less than 10 months.
“It’s one of those plays that has hit at exactly the right time,” Merri Biechler, managing director of the Brick Monkey, said.“It’s so well written that I think it will be done forever.”
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