The play Grounded by George Brant is an interesting concept. It poses questions about the modern military and the role of women in the traditional male roles of service. It also examines the depersonalization of combat through robotics and in particular drone warfare. When we first meet the pilot played by Alexis Scott she is still a hands on pilot,  flying  a plane in a real life eternally blue sky. She revels in the the Air Force fraternity and knowing that she is an isolated sister in the testosterone infused world of the flight officer.

After having gone through pregnancy and motherhood, the pilot returns to work only to find that technology has dramatically altered the life she knew. Through the use of drone, the blue experience of actual flying has been replaced by grey humdrum of monitors and remote control. She finds herself travelling from one screen at work to another one at home. I don’t believe that the author’s point is that war is less horrible or more glorious in real life. I think his intent is more about the numbing effect of technology that might actually be an impediment to diagnosing the prevalence of PTSD and other stress related side effects of war.

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