ArkansasStaged To Present Mother Day’s Reading Of “Grounded”

For all the strong-willed mothers in life this Mother’s Day, a local theatre group will be performing a staged reading of “Grounded,” a one-woman play centered around American politics and motherhood.

The George Brant play will be presented by ArkansasStaged and performed at 21c Museum Hotel in Bentonville on Sunday, May 14, 2017, at 7 p.m. The reading is directed by Laura Shatkus and features Mischa Hutchings as The Pilot.

“Grounded” is a powerful one-woman show that follows a gutsy fighter pilot whose unexpected pregnancy puts her career on hold. When she gets back in the game, flying has a whole new meaning: operating remote-controlled drones in Afghanistan from an air-conditioned trailer near Las Vegas.

Hunting terrorists by day and being a wife and mother by night, The Pilot’s struggle to navigate her dual identities is her toughest mission yet. Grounded is a drama filled with powerful storytelling about the dualities of war and family. Both deeply relevant and moving, George Brant’s award-winning script tackles issues of surveillance, drones, and the ambiguities of warfare in the twenty-first century. “Grounded” was the winner of the 2012 Smith Prize Recognizing outstanding achievement for plays focused on American politics and received raves from critics in London, San Francisco, and New York City.

“Grounded explores one of the most complicated issues of contemporary warfare: pilots who no longer fly planes but rather wage war via remote controlled drones,” Shatkus said. “It asks us to understand one woman’s fight to retain her sanity as she comes to terms with how to balance motherhood with her isolated work defending the country. I think it will be an extra special experience for audience members, especially mothers and daughters, as we perform it on Mother’s Day.”

Mohsen Dadashi, a Persian musician, will be adding a musical element for the pre-show.

Wanbli Gamache will be designing time-based projections for the show.

Additionally, the play coincides with an exhibit currently on display at 21c. The exhibit, “Seeing Now,” contains themes of military occupation, collateral damage, the dark beauty of explosives, and first-hand experience vs. remote viewing as it relates to drone warfare.

For more information, visit the ArkansasStaged Facebook page.