Iron Age and the Centre Theatre preset the East Coast Premier of “Sky Girls” opening April 1st 2005.

Jenny Laird’s fierce, funny and touching play “Sky Girls” offers a revealing glimpse into a little-known chapter of U.S. military history and the women who blazed the trail for future women in the military and American society

Most people have heard of Rosie the Riveter, an icon used to encourage American women to join the war effort by “manning” the assembly lines. But most don’t know that more than 1,000 women were trained to be pilots of combat aircraft in the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs).

“Sky Girls” is set in 1944, at Avenger Field, an Army Air Force base in the dusty, weather-beaten town of Sweetwater, Texas. There, the final class of trainees for the WASPs struggle to earn their wings as they battle internal sabotage, chauvinism, media frenzy, misguided public concern and a crucial, pending Congressional vote that might disband the program. The characters of “Sky Girls” train under aviation legend, Jacqueline (Jackie) Cochran, who rose from a poverty-stricken childhood to set aviation records around the world. She created the WASP program in 1943, earning the Distinguished Service Medal for services to her country during World War II.

As Cochran struggles with the press and congress to obtain military recognition for the young lady pilots, the WASPs themselves learn to live together and grow as women in their society. The play looks at issues of trust, truth and bravery as the women deal with their persona in the man's world and their persona in their female community.

The play is a reminder of the struggles that women have foregone to reach their position today. It is a memorial to the strength of these women and their ability both as pilots and human beings. Like Cochran's cockeyed victory in the Bendix air race, the women find unique and powerful ways to deal with the world they live in.

The story of the WASPS is one that should be told as the nation hails its World War II veterans in filmed tributes such as Band of Brothers and books like The Greatest Generation. “Sky Girls” is a soaring play that embraces the sky, pulling the audience into the clouds with the daring young aviatrixes reminding them of the mysterious attraction flight holds for humanity

Directed and Designed by Randall Wise & John Doyle
April 1,2,3,8,9,10, 15,16,17,21,22,23, 24, 2005
Friday - Sunday

with
Lori-Nan Engler as Jackie Cochran
Susan Paige Lane as Bishop
Kate McLenigan as Mags
Sara Pauley as DeLang
Kate Brennan as Breeney
Janice Rowland as Lil
Jered McLenigan as MovieTone Announcer