Last Updated on 9 December 2024 by Colette
This post features gifted experiences
I’m not even sure where to start my review of Come From Away. I drove home from the theatre last night in silence to allow me absorb what I had seen, what I had experienced.
Come From Away (winner of four Olivier Awards including Best New Musical in London and the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical on Broadway) shares the incredible real-life story of the 7,000 air passengers from all over the world who were grounded in Canada during the wake of 9/11, and the small Newfoundland community that invited these ‘come from aways’ into their lives with open hearts.
Of course the thing with 9/11 and the stories surrounding it, is it is still recent history to us, real lived events that happened in our life time, in our living memory. As adults, we know where we were when we heard the news. We remember the shock, the horror, the constant reporting and updates. The stories of hope and of heroes, the stories of death and sadness.
The story of Gander and it’s neighbouring towns was a whole new part of the 9/11 history that I knew little to nothing about so I didn’t really know what to expect from Come From Away.
A musical about a tragedy in such recent history – would it feel in bad taste? Would it feel too depressing or hopeless or like it was being made light of and not taken seriously? Anything but. This is a powerful, energetic story of kindness, selflessness and hope. A story where people learned just what they could do and what they could cope with when faced with adversity. A story about pulling together as a community to support people whose needs are far greater than yours.
It made me think about things I hadn’t thought about before – about how hard it might be for a pilot to get back in the sky after knowing that planes had been used to cause such death and destruction, about the relationships that broke under the strain or the ones that were forged under pressure like diamonds – the friendship of Hannah (mother of a NYC firefighter) and islander Beulah, the love story of Nick and Diane, or the impact of such an event on a town like Gander that gave everything they had for those five days and we’re left feeling that something was missing and that life could not and perhaps should not go back to normal once the plane had gone.
And yes, there are some really sad moments in this play, there are some really tense and frightening moments too but there’s also so much joy – pockets of humour and happiness that lift the mood and leave you laughing or smiling when moments before you were wiping away tears.
If Come From Away is an emotional roller coaster for us as an audience, that’s nothing compared to those who lived it – ‘the plane people’ and the residents of Gander and the surrounding towns who opened their arms, their homes and their hearts to welcome thousands of displaced, distressed strangers (and maybe even a rare bonobo ape or two!)
Come From Away is performed with minimal scenery and set changes come in the form of moving chairs and tables around to create an aeroplane, a bus, a bar, a gymnasium – but that basic scenery and props is all you need as the story is told through the song, the rhythmic dance and the spoken word of the performers who, for a very intense 1hr 50 minutes sweep you up and take you along for the ride. There is no interval in this performance and I loved that – it kept you completely involved, the spell remained unbroken. The cast must have been exhausted as the majority of them are on stage for most of the play playing several characters each.
I think a standing ovation these days is fairly common place and has perhaps lost some of its meaning but in this instance Come From Away deserved every clap, whoop and footstomp.
Remember I mentioned about the story being based on real lived histories? This was brought home to us last night when the producers of the show brought some surprise guests to the stage – the actual Come From Aways – some of the real people that the stories were based on, well if I hadn’t cried before… amongst them one of the Kevins, the actual Nick and Diane – still together twenty three years later and former mayor of Gander, Claude Elliot. It was clear how much Come From Away means to both the cast and the people whose stories it is based on. They reminded us that they didn’t think they’d done anything special, that they did what needed to be done and showed kindness and understanding – and that perhaps we all need a little more kindness and community in our lives.
Come From Away has a running time of 1 hour 50 minutes with no interval and is recommended from age 10+ thanks to adult themes and mild, infrequent swearing.
Come From Away runs at The Lowry from Thursday 3rd December 2024 to Sunday 5th January 2025. There are a number of captioned, signed and audio described performances.
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