Grounded
By George Brant
Directed by Emily N. Wells +
Grounded tells the story of a hot-shot F16 fighter pilot whose unexpected pregnancy ends her career in the sky. After maternity leave, she is reassigned as a reluctant operator of remotely piloted aircraft in the Middle East. From an air-conditioned trailer in the desert near Vegas, the Pilot struggles through dreamlike 12-hour shifts hunting terrorists by day and being a wife and mother by night, leading her into a downward spiral. The lines crumble between home and professional worlds, and a mistake on the job might just cost her everything.
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Tickets$18-$53
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Runtime93 minutes
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Ratingr
The Human Race Theatre Company
Executive DirectorKappy Kilburn
Artistic DirectorEmily N. Wells
Creative ProducerTara Lail
Present:
George Brant
Directed by Emily N. Wells +
Scenic Realizers D. Tristan Cupp & Jeff Heater
Lighting Design John Rensel ^
Projection Design Lianne Arnold
Sound Design Jay Brunner ^
Stage Manager Mark Tynan *
Production Assistant Andrew Ian Adams °
“Grounded” is presented with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc
www.concordtheatricals.com
GROUNDED was first produced as a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere by SF Playhouse (California), Borderlands Theater (Arizona), and Unicorn Theatre (Missouri).
For more information please visit nnpn.org
New York Premiere of GROUNDED was produced by Page 73 Productions
Liz Jones and Asher Richelli, Executive Directors;
Michael Walkup, Associate Director
Time: Present Day
Place: A windowless trailer outside Las Vegas.
CAST BIOGRAPHIES
Maggie Lou Rader *
The Pilot
Maggie Lou is thrilled to be telling this story at The Human Race where she last played Marie Antionette in The Revolutionists. An Oklahoma native, she attended William Jewell and the Birmingham School of Acting. She’s performed with Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Know Theatre, The Kitchen Theatre, and the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company where she’s played Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Mary Shelley in Mary’s Monster, and Jo March in Little Women. She sends love to Justin, her family, and fur babies. She’s also an award winning playwright who has had her work performed off Broadway and around the country.
- ^ Resident Artist with The Human Race Theatre Company
- * Appearing through an Agreement between this theatre and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
- ° Equity Membership Candidate
Actors’ Equity Association (AEA), founded in 1913, represents more than 49,000 actors and stage managers in the United States. Equity seeks to advance, promote and foster the art of live theatre as an essential component of our society. Equity negotiates wages and working conditions, providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. AEA is a member of the AFL-CIO, and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. The Equity emblem is our mark of excellence. www.actorsequity.org
PRODUCTION BIOGRAPHIES
Emily N. Wells + Director
Emily is an award-winning theatre director, creative producer and educator with over 25 years experience including a significant emphasis on new plays and musicals. Joining The Human Race Theatre Company as the new Artistic Director realizes a dream come true! Upcoming projects include the upcoming Houston Grand Opera World Premiere Another City, a new chamber opera that tells the true stories of un-housed Houstonians and those who aid them, composed by Jeremy Howard Beck to a libretto by Stephanie Fleischmann. Emily’s other directing credits include Rict University VADA, Gulfshore Playhouse, Playhouse on the Square, Circuit Playhouse, Theatreworks/USA among others. She holds an MFA in Directing from the University of Memphis, a BA in Theatre from Washington University in St. Louis, and is an SDC and AEA Member.
Lianne Arnold # Projection Designer
Lianne is a video & scenic designer and inter-disciplinary artist working in theater, opera, music, dance, film, art installation, & experimental performance hybrids of all kinds. Recent projects: Houses of Zodiac (projections / The Broad Museum), Fidelio (scenic & projections / Austin Opera), Lil Buck & Jon Boogz’ Love Heals All Wounds (projections / CAP UCLA & MOVE on Netflix), Your Healing is Killing Me (scenic & projections / Cara Mia Theatre, Dallas), Hamlet & The Great Gatsby (projections / Aquila Theatre Nat. Tour), The Lady and the Dale (animations / HBO), The Hello Girls (scenic & projections / 59E59), Let Me Die (projections / Opera Philadelphia), Train With No Midnight (projections / Prototype). Lianne teaches Creative Technologies at The New School, is a member of Wingspace Design Collective, and earned her MFA from CalArts. www.liannearnold.com
Jay Brunner Sound Designer
Jay has designed sound, music directed, performed and composed music for countless theatrical events and is proud to call The Human Race his artistic home. He has composed music and recorded audio projects for many musical groups, voiceovers, regional commercials, radio spots, training videos, collegiate theatre projects, marching bands, clubs, and organizations. Jay owns and operates a professional recording studio (Audio Forest) with his wife, fellow HRTC Resident Artist Christine Brunner.
John Rensel ^ Resident Lighting Designer
John is the long-term Resident Lighting Designer for The Human Race Theatre Company, Muse Machine, the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra Pops series, and the Dayton Opera Association. He also serves as the long-time Technical Director for the Fraze Pavilion and has provided advanced technical production coordination, lighting designs, automation programming, and performance operation services for many artists and productions that have visited that venue. John also has a diverse dance lighting background, having provided lighting designs and technical production services for many years to The Dayton Ballet and Dayton Contemporary Dance Co. John’s national credits include a lighting design package for a National Touring Production of the Elton John/Tim Rice collaboration Aida. Some of his most recent local credits include all the designs for The Human Race’s season at the Loft Theatre; Muse Machine’s productions at the Victoria Theatre and the Dayton Opera Association’s season at the Schuster Center. At 70, John just had his tonsils removed. Ouch!
Mark Tynan * Stage Manager
Mark is thrilled to be back in his native Ohio and able to see his great nephews, Elliott, Gabriel, Rowan, and Luca (and the rest of his family) in person rather than on the Facebook. Mark got his BFA from Wright State University with his first two years at The Ohio State University. He is a proud 37-year member of Actors’ Equity Association. His career includes Radio City Music Hall, subbing on Broadway, national and international tours, regional theatre and corporate events. It is an honor to be working with The Human Race Theatre Company, very grateful.
- ^ Resident Artist with The Human Race Theatre Company
- + The Director is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, an independent labor union.
- # United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829 of the IATSE is the union representing Scenic, Costume, Lighting, Sound and Projection Designers in Live Performances.
THE CREW
Stage Manager
Mark Tynan *
Production Assistant
Andrew Ian Adams °
Production Electrician
Steve Williams
Sound Engineer
Megan Jalowiec
Projection Tech
JR Riechers
Projection Operator
MJ Salata
Costume Shop Manager
Debra Howard
Health Resource Officer
Tara Lail
Technical Director
Tristan Cupp
Scenic Artist/Carpenter
Jeff Heater
Company Manager
Monique Cooper
- ^ Resident Artist with The Human Race Theatre Company
- * Appearing through an Agreement between this theatre and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
- ° Equity Membership Candidate
About The Playwright
George BrantPlaywright
George Brant’s plays include Grounded, Marie and Rosetta, Into the Breeches!, Elephant’s Graveyard, The Prince of Providence, Tender Age, The Land of Oz, Dark Room, Grizzly Mama, Good on Paper, The Mourners’ Bench, Salvage, Three Voyages of the Lobotomobile, Any Other Name, Defiant, Miracle: A Tragedy, Ashes, NOK, The Lonesome Hoboes, All Talk, One Hand Clapping, The Royal Historian of Oz, Lovely Letters, Three Men in a Boat, Borglum! The Mount Rushmore Musical, Tights on a Wire and Night of the Mime.
Brant’s work has been produced internationally by such companies as the Public Theater, The Atlantic Theater Company, Trinity Repertory Company, Cleveland Play House, The Alley Theatre, Studio Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory, City Theatre, Gate Theatre of London, Page 73, Traverse Theatre, Dobama Theatre, and the Disney Channel, among others.
His plays have been generously developed by the Metropolitan Opera, The Playwrights’ Center, Asolo Rep, McCarter Theatre Center, New Harmony Project, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, WordBRIDGE Playwright’s Lab, InterAct Theatre, Theatre @ Boston Court, Playwright and Director Center of Moscow, Florida Studio Theatre, Contemporary Drama Festival of Hungary, the Hangar Theatre, and Equity Library Theatre, among others.
His scripts have been awarded a Lucille Lortel Award, an Edgerton Foundation New Play Award, a Scotsman Fringe First Award, an Off-West End Theatre Award for Best Production, an NNPN Rolling World Premiere, the Smith Prize, the Keene Prize for Literature, a Theatre Netto Festival Prize, a Creative Workforce Fellowship, the David Mark Cohen National Playwriting Award from the Kennedy Center and three Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Awards. He has received writing fellowships from the James A. Michener Center for Writers, the McCarter Theatre Sallie B. Goodman Artist’s Retreat, the MacDowell Colony, the Djerassi Resident Artists Program, the Hermitage Artists’ Retreat and the Blue Mountain Center as well as commissions from the Metropolitan Opera, Trinity Repertory Company, Cleveland Play House, Dobama Theatre and Theatre 4.
George received his MFA in Writing from the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas at Austin and is a member of the Dramatists Guild. He is published by Samuel French, Oberon Books, Fisher Verlage and Smith & Kraus.
Biography and image courtesy of georgebrant.net
Partners & Sponsors
We are incredibly grateful to those whose support makes all of our programming possible.
2022-23 Loft Season Sponsor
Engagement and Learning Support
Additional Support
Media Sponsor
Organizational Support Provided By:
Sustainability Sponsors
ANNE F. JOHNSON
STEVE & LOU MASON
ELM FOUNDATION
Pay What You CAN Sponsor
Production Partners
DR. ROBERT L. BRANDT, JR.
