Oscar-winning Hollywood actress Anne Hathaway is to star in a New York play about an ace fighter pilot tasked with flying US drones in Afghanistan from an Air Force trailer.

The Public Theater in Manhattan's trendy East Village says the production of Grounded will run from April 7 to May 17, and be directed by the award-winning Julie Taymor.

Written by US playwright George Brant, the one-woman drama tells the story of a fighter pilot reassigned to 12-hour shifts flying remote-controlled drones after she gets pregnant.