GROUNDED Lands At The Gladstone, 1/17-27

She's got it all. Beauty. Brains. A body as finely honed as a Sidewinder missile. That's her job, and her passion. Fighter pilot. Ace.

So what happens when she's a big success at motherhood, too? Iran. Iraq. Afghanistan.

This is how it is when our feminism is really on the line.

Why stage a play about an American fighter pilot in Canada's capital city?

"If you pay taxes, you finance wars," answers director Eleanor Crowder. "This play zooms us in on the bunkers, on the choices, on the costs of that mission. Playwright George Brant drops us smack into the target zone for today's warfare, and makes a distant war very personal."

"Brant pitches all the tenderness and motherhood against the tension and aggression of war," says solo performer Alexis Scott. "The script has specificity and realness, but also a lyricism that takes the audience on a ride."

"This is the voice of a woman who would be my friend," says Crowder. "I trust her experience. Alexis is the actor for this role. She is utterly compelling."

"Grounded is a heartbreaking, beautiful, necessary and perfectly-structured solo drama... an essential story for our times." -The Scotsman

See the Ottawa premiere.

CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM Eleanor Crowder directs Alexis Scott in this searing one-woman show, a 2015 off-Broadway hit for Anne Hathaway.

PERFORMANCE DETAILS

January 18-27 (preview January 17)

Tuesday-Saturday at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:30 p.m.

Tickets can be purchased at The Gladstone: http://www.thegladstone.ca/grounded/

About Bear & Co. Compelling theatre, close to home.

Eleanor Crowder (actor/director/producer) and Rachel Eugster (actor/singer/music director) form the core of this professional indie collective, a resident company at The Gladstone Theatre.

www.bearandcompany.ca; bearandcompanytheatre@gmail.com.

An interview with the creators of Grounded. Alexis Scott stars; Eleanor Crowder directs.

Q: What drew you to this script?

Eleanor: I saw it performed at The Public Theatre in New York City. Anne Hathaway was magnificent in the role. And the script simply grabbed me and twisted.

Here is our feminism run head to head with our biology. Is The Pilot trapped by being a mother? She asks, are drones punishment for getting pregnant? Is the turn of the plot the inevitable outcome of the conditions of war? Would a man act differently?

George Brant drops us smack into the target zone for today's warfare, and makes a distant war very personal.

Alexis: I had a visceral reaction to the play. I was grateful and honored to be asked to play The Pilot. The play gives the actress a chance to go full throttle, which was a big draw.

Brant's script is gorgeously crafted and brings us right into the world of The Pilot. There's a specificity and a realness, but also a lyricism that takes the audience on a ride.

Q: Why should people see the show?

Eleanor: If you pay taxes, you finance wars. The Canadian military is not yet using armed drones-Navy and Army use surveillance drones, but the RCAF does not have Reapers. But we are in allegiance with U.S. forces who do use them. This play zooms us in on the bunkers, on the choices, on the costs of that mission.

Q: Does theatre matter to politics, or politics to theatre?

Alexis: As I started doing research for this play, I kept getting struck by the impact war has on humans and human connection. The audience is witness to all the nitty gritty details of the character's life. We see The Pilot transform before our eyes.

Brant has pitched all the tenderness of love and motherhood against the tension and aggression of war. (Go listen to former drone pilots on Youtube for a sense of the human cost.)

Eleanor: Theatre is the way I explore information and opinion. All our information comes in a voice, no matter how objective it purports to be. A show that places an identifiable voice front and centre offers a way to think about an issue. I hope this show provokes many discussions for the audience. Is this the world we live in? If it is, what does the eye in the sky mean for us?

Q: What elements of the character, or of the playwright's voice, resonate most with you?

Eleanor: Here is a tough woman. An admirable woman, winning at a man's game. The Pilot talks like us. And here are conditions of work that are unimaginable, until Brant takes you there.

This is the voice of a woman who would be my friend. I trust her experience.

Alexis: The Pilot is really good at what she does. She is a fighter pilot because she can't not be a fighter pilot. I relate to the feminist side of the story as she tries to navigate all of the aspects of her job and motherhood. In the male-dominated American military, she doesn't need anyone's help until she does need help. She keeps saying she's fine even when she's not fine. I can relate to that need to put on armour and be stronger than you really are.

Q: What have been the biggest challenges, and what have been the biggest joys, in mounting this production?

Eleanor: A solo show is a marathon: a triumphant display of talent and sweat.

This text is exactly that. A sweep of action and insight that asks the performer to pour every ounce of strength into her work. Alexis is the actor for this role: She is utterly compelling.

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