City Theatre to Present GROUNDED, 3/29-5/4

City Theatre continues its 2013-2014 season with Grounded, a high-intensity drama by George Brant. Directed by Jenn Thompson, Grounded runs from March 29 to May 4, 2014 in City Theatre's Hamburg Studio, with an Opening Night performance on Friday, April 4 at 8pm.

This powerful one-woman show 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 riveting drama filled with powerful storytelling about the dualities of war and family," says Tracy Brigden, City Theatre's Artistic Director. "Both relevant and original, George Brant's award-winning script tackles issues of surveillance, drones, and the ambiguities of warfare in the twenty-first century. This vivid play demands a strong female actor who can own the show, and we're thrilled to welcome Kelly McAndrew back to perform. Last seen at City in Precious Little, Kelly embraces commanding roles with intensity and authenticity."

Kelly McAndrew returns to City Theatre, having last been seen in 2011's Precious Little. Most recently she has been seen Off-Broadway in Almost, Maine (Transport Group) and Good Television (Atlantic Theatre Company). On Broadway, she played Maggie the Cat in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Additional Off-Broadway credits include: Still Life (MCC), The Cataract (The Women's Project), and Book of Days (Signature Theatre). Other New York theatre credits include: My California (Here Arts), Greedy (Clubbed Thumb), Topsy Turvey Mouse (Cherry Lane Mentor Project), Trout Stanley (Culture Project), Lyric is Waiting (kef productions). Recent regional credits include: Other Desert Cities (The Guthrie), Good People (Pittsburgh Public), August: Osage County, Alive and Well, Dividing the Estate, and Sight Unseen (The Old Globe). Other regional theaters include: ART, Huntington, Cincinnati Playhouse, Denver Center, Shakespeare on the Sound, Arena Stage, Baltimore Centre Stage. TV: "Smash," "Law & Order," "Law & Order: SVU," "Gossip Girl." Film: Appropriate Behavior (Sundance 2014), In the Family (2011 SPIRIT nomination), Everybody's Fine (with Robert DeNiro), Superheroes, New Guy, Out of the Darkness. Training: UMKC. Member: TACT.

George Brant's plays include Elephant's Graveyard, The Mourners' Bench, Any Other Name, Salvage, Grizzly Mama, Three Voyages of the Lobotomobile, and Dark Room. A Core Writer at the Playwright's Center, his scripts have been produced internationally by Trinity Repertory Company, the Studio Theatre, the Gate Theatre of London, Cleveland Play House, Page 73, and the Traverse Theatre, among others. He has received a Kennedy Center National Playwriting Award, the Smith Prize, an Edinburgh Fringe First Award, a Creative Workforce Fellowship, an NNPN Rolling World Premiere, two OAC Individual Excellence Awards, and the Keene Prize for Literature. He has been awarded writing fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, the McCarter Theatre Center, Blue Mountain Center, the Djerassi Resident Artist's Program, and the Michener Center for Writers. He is published by Samuel French, Oberon Books, and Smith & Kraus.

Grounded features Kelly McAndrew as the Pilot. The creative team includes Anne Mundell (Scenic), Sabrina Zain (Costume), Martin Vreeland (Lighting), Toby Algya (Sound), and Larry Shea (Projections).

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