By George Brant
Directed by Benjamin Summers
Grounded
From the award-winning playwright of Elephant's Graveyard, George Brant, comes the story of an ace fighter pilot whose career in the sky is ended early due to an unexpected pregnancy. Reassigned to operate military drones from a windowless trailer outside Las Vegas, she hunts terrorists by day and returns to her family each night. As the pressure to track a high-profile target mounts, the boundaries begin to blur between the desert in which she lives and the one she patrols half a world away.
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"A searing piece of writing...gripping...a must-see."
- The Guardian
April 6-21
2018
at hyde park theatre
synopsis
CAST
Sarah Danko
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Stage Manager
Helen Hetrick
REVIEWS
"At the core of what makes this such a riveting evening of theatre is the thoughtful, sensitive direction of Benjamin Summers combined with the fearless and emotionally raw performance of Sarah Danko...The end result is both engaging and revelatory. I highly recommend this production for those who enjoy theatre that gives you a lot to think about and discuss long after you've left the building. This is a beautiful theatrical work that does what theatre does better than any other medium." (Entire Review)
Frank Benge, BroadwayWorld.com
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"As “The Pilot” in Street Corner Arts’ production, Sarah Danko is transcendent. She strikes the perfect balance, vocalizing the pilot’s story while simultaneously physicalizing and emoting the riotous turmoil going on just beneath the surface. At turns arrogant, sexy, vulnerable, angry, disturbed and loving, Danko’s portrayal is all the more impressive for the fact that her entire journey takes place in front of the audiences’ eyes with no intermission." (Entire Review)
Andrew J. Friedenthal, Austin360
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"Danko's performance is commanding, full of subtlety and authenticity. From the very beginning, she convinces us of her pride in the uniform she's earned. She remains (sorry) grounded in the moment throughout the 80-minute show, and the energy never drops – she's as believable as a cocky stick jockey as she is a devoted mom...Street Corner Arts has a big thing in a small package here, one I've been thinking about for days...Grounded flies pretty damn high." (Entire Review)
Shanon Weaver, Austin Chronicle
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Winner
Austin
Critics Table
Outstanding
Performance
by an
Individual
Sarah
Danko
Winner
Austin
Critics Table
Outstanding
Digital
Design
Lowell
Bartholomee
Winner
Austin
Critics Table
Outstanding
sound
Design
Lowell
Bartholomee
playwright
George Brant
bio
George Brant’s plays include GROUNDED, ELEPHANT’S GRAVEYARD, MARIE AND ROSETTA, INTO THE BREECHES!, THE MOURNERS’ BENCH, ANY OTHER NAME, SALVAGE, GRIZZLY MAMA, THREE VOYAGES OF THE LOBOTOMOBILE, GOOD ON PAPER, NIGHT OF THE MIME, ONE HAND CLAPPING and DARK ROOM. An Affiliate Writer at the Playwright’s Center, his scripts have been produced internationally by The Public Theater, the Atlantic Theater Company, Cleveland Play House, Trinity Repertory Company, Milwaukee Repertory, the Studio Theatre, City Theatre, London’s Gate Theatre, Page 73, Melbourne’s Red Stitch Theatre and Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre, among others. He has received a Lucille Lortel Award, an Edgerton New Play Award, a Kennedy Center National Playwriting Award, the Smith Prize, a Scotsman Fringe First Award, a Creative Workforce Fellowship, an Off-West End Theatre Award, an NNPN Rolling World Premiere, three 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 a graduate of the Michener Center at UT-Austin.
cast & creative
Sarah was most recently seen as Juliet in Present's Company's rooftop production of ROMEO AND JULIET. Past performances include Connie in THE EFFECT (Cap T), Maddy in A PERFECT ROBOT (The Vortex), Alice in THE DROWNING GIRLS (Theatre En Bloc), Lucille in PARADE (Ground Floor Theatre), Albrecht in FRANKENSTEIN (Trouble Puppet), and Elaine in ARSENIC AND OLD LACE (Different Stages). In May, she will be joining Glass Half Full for POLLY MERMAID: LIVE AT THE VORTEX. Sarah also starred in the short film, MAMMOTH, produced by WarmBubbleGum, which will premiere this spring. She is a singer and visual artist, having fabricated costumes, puppets and props for movies and tv. She sends all of her love to her Eric, who encourages her every day.
Sarah Danko
The Pilot
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Benjamin is a founding producing director of Street Corner Arts (SCA) and a company member at Hyde Park Theatre (HPT) and Austin Playhouse (AP). Benjamin received his B.A. in Theatre from Davidson College. Favorite credits include John in THE REALISTIC JONESES (HPT), Will in A BRIGHT NEW BOISE (HPT), Dorante in THE LIAR (AP), John in TRAGEDY: A TRAGEDY (HPT), John Honeyman in A WALK IN THE WOODS (SCA), Doug in GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES (SCA), John Dodge in MIDDLETOWN (HPT), Paul Verrall in BORN YESTERDAY (AP), Richard Hannay in THE 39 STEPS (AP), George Bailey in IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (AP), Valene in THE LONESOME WEST (HPT), and the title character in HAMLET (No Holds Bard). Directing credits include POCATELLO, BULL, THE ALTRUISTS and WAITING FOR LEFTY (B. Iden Payne nomination for Best Director) all with SCA. When not on the stage, he teaches math at Gorzycki Middle School and is a devoted husband to Skola and father to little Emmett.
benjamin Summers
Director
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Helen is a Theatre Studies major at The University of Texas at Austin with a Minor in Business. She currently works as an Event Manager at Hogg Memorial Auditorium. Her past credits include SLUMBER PARTY by Elizabeth Doss (UTNT), TITLE LOADING by alt_caps (Fusebox Festival and Cohen New Works Festival), and DRY LAND by Ruby Rae Spiegal (Grad Studio Project). She is excited to be working on MATAWAN by Dan Caffrey in the fall with UT.
Chris is an Austin-based designer and artist, and graduate of SFUAD in Santa Fe, NM with a BFA in Technical Theater design in 2014. Since graduation, he has focused on expanding his skill sets, and exploring the intrinsic connection between art and the viewer. He is interested in creating original work that challenges the viewer, institutions of normality, and perspectives of reality. Chris has designed, served as technical director, built, and/or painted over 50 shows in Austin, Santa Fe, and Los Angeles. Chris has designed for critically-acclaimed directors and producers, including Jon Jory and Robert Benedetti. He was the recipient of the 2017 Austin Critics Table Award for Best Set Design and the 2016 B. Iden Payne Award winner for Outstanding Set Design. For a collection of Chris’s work, please visit Jchrisconard.com.
Lowell Bartholomee
Media & Sound Designer
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Paul Feinstein
Box Office Manager
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A. Skola Summers
Costume Designer
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Rommel Sulit
Publicity
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Lowell Bartholomee created the video design for Street Corner Arts’ PERFECT MENDACITY. His work was most recently seen in Hyde Park Theatre’s WAKEY WAKEY. His video and/or sound designs have appeared in productions by Capital T, Teatro Vivo, Austin Shakespeare, Zach Scott, and many others.
Paul is a regular contributing artist with Street Corner. He has been an arts professional ever since he was a teenager, producing in various formats including radio, film, and theater. He received his B.A. in English Literature from Trinity University in San Antonio, TX. He is a native Austinite.
Skola is an artist, educator and co-founding artistic director of Street Corner Arts. Hailing from the cornfields of Iowa, she currently lives and creates in ATX along with her husband Benjamin and their most recent creation, Emmett.
Rommel is a film and stage actor, producer and architect immersed in the creative culture of Austin. He has numerous film, commercial and theatrical credits, most recently as King Henry IV in HENRY IV (Hidden Room Theatre) and Dr. Toby Sealey in THE EFFECT (Capital T Theatre). He trained at the School at Steppenwolf, is a co-founder of Street Corner Arts and Forge Craft, an architecture firm dedicated to the design of affordable spaces for live, work and creative play. He has been nominated for and received Austin Critics Table and B. Iden Payne awards and serves as a board member with the Austin Creative Alliance and thanks you for your continued support of the arts in Austin.