A play offering an alarming perspective on America’s use of drones is to transfer from a small west London theatre to the heart of the US government in Washington.
Grounded, written by American George Brant and starring east London actress Lucy Ellinson, is the story of a fighter pilot reassigned to drones after she falls pregnant.
It explores how the unnamed pilot becomes obsessed with the grey foreign landscape of Afghanistan over which she guides her drone from a trailer in the Nevada desert.
The play was a sell-out hit at its premiere at the Gate in Notting Hill last year and will return to the Gate from April 28 to May 31 before opening at the Studio Theatre in Washington in June.
Christopher Haydon, who runs the Gate and directed the production, said: “Given the play has many urgent things to say about current US foreign policy, it feels entirely appropriate that we should be taking the show — the ultimate critique of American foreign policy — to the heart of American power.”
Haydon said he intended to invite people from both sides of the debate, from President Obama to activists who oppose the use of drones for monitoring and attacking US foes.
Haydon said the play’s original run was extended twice: “I never had a show that sold that well. It was the quality of the performance and the play that people connected with.”
