An AC/DC riff jangles through my head as I leave the Cambridge junction following the penultimate performance of an 18 month UK tour of Grounded. It is an hour long journey in the hands of a reluctant UAV pilot from the US Air Force which leaves us with more than a few questions about the reality of modern warfare. Director Christopher Haydon brings us up close to The Pilot, played by Lucy Ellison, as she comes to terms with being a member of the "chair-force" - a phrase she repeats with plenty of sarcasm and distaste. As a fully-fledged female Top Gun, our hero is full of all the bravado you'd expect from a highly trained military asset. She regales us with stories of her time out in the wide open "blue" (sky) as a fighter pilot, clearly smart and skilled and without an ounce of humility. Following a break from the war, she finds herself pregnant and somewhat excited about the prospect despite the risk of having to let go of her plane and "the blu...
Mr. English shares his (probably) unqualified opinion