Washougal siblings to loose ‘Weapons In Waiting’ play in New York this spring

Two Washougal siblings are teaming up to bring the story of World War II’s female pilots to a New York City stage.

Keira Mathews’ play, “Weapon In Waiting,” produced by her brother Alan Stogin’s production company, will debut at Arts On Site NYC in Manhattan this spring. Pickle Factory Productions is currently casting and planning rehearsals for the nine-person play, which is scheduled for four showings on April 4-5.

“Observing casting, seeing the characters, who are all real people, come back to life … has been incredible,” Mathews said. “I have jitters every single day because it’s surreal. I’m excited to see it come full circle.”

Stogin, a 2014 Washougal High graduate, and Mathews, a 2016 Washougal High graduate, participated in the school’s drama program during their teenage years.

“I am incredibly excited about this collaboration between these two amazing artists,” Washougal High drama teacher Kelly Gregersen said. “I expect great things from both of them.”

Mathews wrote “Weapon In Waiting” in 2021 as a class project during her senior year at the University of Utah. She was inspired by “All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion,” a 2013 novel by Fannie Flagg about Women Airforce Service Pilots during World War II.

“I cried, like, eight times listening to that book because it was so good,” said Mathews, who joined the U.S. Navy in 2023 and is currently training to become a pilot herself. “I started researching the WASPs like crazy, learning everything I could about them.”

Mathews’ play highlights the journeys of WASP leaders Nancy Love and Jackie Cochran, who advanced women’s roles in military aviation by proving females could fly military aircraft, thus freeing men for combat, despite facing institutional barriers.

During World War II, more than 1,000 civilian women flew military aircraft in noncombat roles for the U.S. Army Air Forces. They ferried planes, towed targets and tested aircraft, but weren’t granted veteran status until 1977.

“As a female pilot, it’s interesting to see where we are at now, which is amazing, and from where we have come,” Mathews said. “When I was training in Pensacola, Fla., I met some of the Navy’s first female aviators, and they had the best stories ever. I was like, ‘Why there isn’t a miniseries about these ladies, I’ll never know.’ ”

Researching and writing the play allowed Mathews to combine her passions for theater and aviation.

“The story is so interesting and fascinating that I want to share it with the community that I had built up all through college — my theater community,” she said. “I was like, ‘There’s not a person in my life that wouldn’t find this story interesting.’ I want them all to see it in an entertaining way and be able to internalize it and tell more people about it and spread the word about the WASPs.”

Mathews hoped to become an actor after finishing college but joined the Navy in 2023 after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic caused her plans to “fall in on themselves.”

Mathews, who directed the Washougal High School drama department’s production of “Once Upon A Mattress” in 2022, is currently based in Corpus Christi, Texas, where she’s attending officer candidate school.

“I’ve always strongly believed that you can’t do theater well unless you have something else to bring to it,” she said. “It’s not my personality type to just be able to learn about other things; I have to go and experience them. It felt like a great opportunity to take about a 10-year break from acting and go experience the world, a whole other way of living. I’m the fourth generation of my family to serve in the military, so I’m very proud of that.”

While Mathews’ path is leading her farther from home, her brother’s is leading him back.

After Stogin graduated from Washougal High, he attended Eastern Oregon University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in directing, and the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, where he received a master’s degree in stage management.

He remained in Las Vegas after finishing graduate school, working for big-top circus variety shows, then concerts and operas. He’s now a resident stage manager for professional opera companies based in Columbus, Ohio; Boise, Idaho; and Las Vegas.

“And when I’m not doing operas, I spend a lot of time touring,” he said. “That makes me miss home.”

That’s why he wants to eventually relocate Pickle Factory Productions to Southwest Washington. He founded the company along with friends Abigail Rebekah, the director of “Weapon In Waiting,” and Anne Maguire, a professional opera singer and former Washougal resident.

“I know plenty of artists from the Northwest who want to be living in the Northwest, near their families, but can’t because there’s nothing for us there,” Stogin said. “That’s why I had to move to Las Vegas. That’s why Abby had to move to New York. That’s why Anne McGuire is in Connecticut. When I got really homesick, I was like, ‘You know what? It’s time. The audience is there. Let’s create something for them.’ ”

Pickle Factory Productions “wants to preserve the teachings and writings of theatre makers past while also creating (its) own stories and ways of storytelling” and be “a place for community,” according to its website.

“It’s been a dream that we’ve been talking about, and it felt like it was never going to happen,” Stogin said. “And then all of the planets aligned, and we were able to jump-start this. Of course, it did not come at an easy time. Abby is neck-deep in other projects in New York, I’m currently on a national tour, Keira is in Texas training to be a pilot, and Anne is running her own business in Connecticut. But I’m happy it’s happening at this time and with this play.”