When Hollywood’s Anne Hathaway snapped up the movie rights to George Brant’s one-woman play Grounded back in 2015 it is easy to see why; modern female roles like this are few and far between. Similarly, when local actor Alison van Reeken stumbled across the same play via social media, she was quick to apply for the rights to perform it for all the same reasons.
In his play, Brant explores the complexities of a working woman in the ecosystem of contemporary life and the issues that form the zeitgeist of the female role in today’s society. It’s a huge leap from the better known roles of Rita (Educating Rita) and Shirley (Shirley Valentine) and told with more sophisticated humour.
Grounded had a sell-out season at The Blue Room in September 2016 and flying on the back of its success the team at Red Ryder Productions rolled it out of the hanger for a Fringe Festival reprise.
While the synopsis doesn’t have the frills and feathers we’ve come to associate with Fringe, the plot line is intriguing and relatable. The 80 minute monologue is set again the bare minimum of sets, costumes and cast, but does not fail to hold the interest of theatre goers from beginning to end.
Grounded relies on the candid dialogue, as the unnamed pilot narrates the events leading her into an psychological tailspin. After the birth of her unplanned child she is taken off the F-16 combat team and reassigned to the ‘chairforce’ to fly military drones out of the windowless safehaven at an airbase outside of Las Vegas. She is miles away from what she trained for, away from the real action of her former duties in Iraq and Afghanistan, away from the big blue that defined who she thought she was.
van Reeken’s role as the pilot is a ballsy one. A female fighter pilot, immersed in what has traditionally been seen as a ‘boys only club’ and her struggle with femininity and feisty determination to be at the top of her game and stay there.
At the beginning the pilot is a tough-talking tomboy, telling us about the blue. Her intimate relationship with ‘the blue’ so palpable you can almost taste it. But when she mets Eric and gets pregnant, we see the shift in her life, the uncertainties, the insecurities, the breaking of stereotypes.
Perth theatre buffs, will recognise leading lady Alison van Reeken from her many Black Swan Theatre performances over the last few years. Grounded confirms that van Reeken is no type-cast talent. She admits herself, this role was the biggest stretch in her acting career so far but she portrays the role with the right balance of sugar and spice required to convey the complexity of the character, leaving the audience asking themselves did I like her or not?
There is no forth wall in this production, the audience is at one with the pilot from the get go.
Brant successfully weaves internal and external conflicts with moral and political statements in this piece about feminism, sexuality, parenthood, equality, not to mention ethics of using modern technology to fight wars against an enemy you have never come face to face with. The great power and responsibility and those who control it.
While the promotional material for this production focuses on the theme of drones and the new way of warfare (possibly to attract a gender-balanced audience). I challenge anyone to leave the auditorium without a minefield of complex questions and fodder for the obligatory after-theatre conversation.
Last night marked the final Fringe performance of this play, but should it land somewhere near you in the near further, I urge you to go see it. It’s a story for our time. It’s essential viewing.
