Theatre Review - Grounded

Used to soaring through ‘the blue’, in a plane, the pilot at first finds it hard to adjust to working with a remotely controlled, unmanned aerial vehicle. Having to stare at a grey screen all day, searching for terrorists, begins to do her head in. And there are no fellow pilots she can unwind with after a mission. Then she has her first ‘hit’, blowing up a ‘guilty’ party thousands of miles away in another desert and she’s hooked on the adrenaline rush it provokes.
Increasingly, however, the pilot is disturbed by her sense of omnipotence; at being ‘the eye in the sky’, a ‘drone-god’, forever watching others, annihilating them with the press of a button. Not surprisingly, she becomes tetchy, unreasonable and her home life suffers. Then, frighteningly, the lines between reality and fantasy begin to blur with devastating consequences.
A versatile, talented actress Ellison has become a regular at the Gate. It’s not hard to see why directors love her. She’s demonstrably committed to her roles, dynamic, immensely watchable and always utterly believable. George Brant’s script is beautifully crafted and well-paced. The action is played out on a tiny square stage, encased by Oliver Townsend’s gauze screen and atmospherically lit by Mark Howland. Sensitively directed by Christopher Haydon this 5 star production should not be missed.
Running at the Gate Theatre until 28 September
Originally published by Theatreworld