Grounded av George Brant

An American fighter pilot who thrives on the adrenaline rush of being up in the blue skies becomes pregnant. Pregnancy isn’t compatible with the extreme G-forces of the cockpit, and the white-knuckled thrill of hunting down the enemy is traded for desk duty and domestic family life in Wyoming. But she still dreams of the blue skies.
When her daughter turns three, she is determined to return to active duty, but the war has changed. She is stationed at Creech Air Force Base in the Nevada desert, to pilot a drone from a trailer – to be the “eye in the sky” that kills enemy forces in a war zone half a world away. A reluctant new member of the so-called “Chair Force.” She clocks in to war for twelve-hour shifts, seven days a week. Every day, she watches everything through the greyscale screen in front of her before getting into her car and driving home to kiss her husband and child goodnight.
This solo performance examines the psychological impact of modern warfare and raises the question of how parenthood might change one’s understanding of life, death and responsibility in war. Written by George Brant in 2013, it has been produced all over the world, and remains strikingly relevant today.
Grounded is a ‘Kjellerlab production’. Kjellerlab is Trøndelag Teater’s laboratory for artistic experimentation. Here, new theatrical forms and working methods are explored in an intimate setting, bringing audiences close to the creative process. With the relationship between actor and text at its core, Kjellerlab creates direct, immediate theatre where there is space to experiment, explore, and discover. Some productions will challenge, others will surprise—but all contribute to Trøndelag Theatre’s ongoing development of the performing arts.
The play will be performed in English. The pilot is played by Synnøve Fossum Eriksen.