Come From Away

Milton Keynes Theatre

27^th November 2024

The UK tour of ‘Come From Away’ is nearing its triumphant end, having kicked off in March this year, and it shows no sign of losing its impact as it enters its final weeks.  The show recounts the remarkable and inspirational true events of the town of Gander, Newfoundland, and how it pulled together following the terrorist attacks of September 11^th 2011.  Formerly one of North American’s busiest airports, Gander was historically used for airplanes to refuel on trans-Atlantic flights, but was made largely redundant when advances in aviation technology meant airplanes could make the journey in one go.  When the 9/11 attacks brought all of US airspace to a shattering halt, 38 planes had to be diverted to the quiet town, inflating the population from 9000 to over 16000 in a matter of hours.  With passengers anxious, tired and hungry, the Gander community rallied together without a moment’s pause and provided food, shelter and support for the disrupted travellers, before even knowing what had happened on that fateful day. 

Rarely do we see shows that are so engaging, uplifting, thought-provoking, and ultimately human as this one.  ‘Come From Away’ became ‘the people’s musical’ in London when it first played the Phoenix Theatre, and incredible word of mouth soon helped it find its way into audiences’ hearts, and for very good reason.  A far cry from yet another jukebox musical based on an 80s film or the biographical story of a millionaire singer, ‘Come From Away’ is completely unique in its approach and delivery, and is all the better for it.  Many musicals entertain their audiences with two and a half hours of frothy light entertainment (which we’re all in favour of), but rarely does a show penetrate so deeply into its audiences’ emotions that it continues to resonate with them long after the cast have taken their bow, but ‘Come From Away’ absolutely does.  A sense of community radiates from the stage, instilled by a tight cast and a team of creatives who clearly have a huge amount of affection for this story, and the audience feel that throughout.    

‘Come From Away’ wisely plays without an interval, allowing us to get completely immersed in these people’s lives without the magic being broken, which is also helped by the show deliberately avoiding the conventional structure of a musical (book scene, song, applause, repeat), and instead weaving the songs in and out of the dialogue to create one fluid immersive experience.  The score (music and lyrics by husband-and-wife team David Hein and Irene Sankoff) is a clever folk-infused collection of songs and melodies which really get into your brain, and work brilliantly as a cohesive piece of storytelling, with no moments of filler.  Every composition fits, and perhaps more importantly, wouldn’t fit into any other show, such is the show’s unique magic.  Christopher Ashley’s direction is stylish, innovative and smooth, Howell Blinkley’s lighting design creates some beautiful moments, and the show’s staging (Kelly Devine) is cleverly designed with a brilliant sense of continuous movement and stunning choreography which ensues a swift and engaging pace.  The show made use of a revolve in London, which has understandably been removed to make the production viable for touring, but this doesn’t negatively impact the feel of the show and only die-hard fans of the show will even notice it was ever there. 

A true ensemble performance, the cast of 12 are uniformly excellent and tell the stories of these characters with utter conviction, showing remarkable versatility in switching between multiple personas with apparent ease.  It’s impossible to single out any of the actors in this dynamic dozen, each one a vital cog in this beautiful machine, and everyone has their moment to shine, be in humour or heartbreak.  The driving momentum of the show is hugely dependant on each performer hitting every rapid-fire line and movement exactly right, and a single slip would really throw off the flow, but everyone is immaculate in their timing and delivery.

Breathtakingly powerful and strikingly original, ‘Come From Away’ grips and tugs at the heart like no other show.  If you’ve seen it before, you already know how good it is.  And if you haven’t, “Welcome To The Rock” indeed.  You won’t want to leave. ‘Come From Away’ is a show that everyone needs to see.  A testament to how the Arts can turn something so dark into something so uplifting, it’s a beautiful piece of theatre that juxtaposes the absolute worst and best of humanity, and this production is an absolute triumph of storytelling, character and heart.  It truly is one of the most important musicals in the genre, and in fact calling it a musical feels reductive and minimises its power, for it is so much more.

‘Come From Away’ runs at Milton Keynes Theatre until Saturday 30^th November 2024, before concluding its UK tour at the Lowry in Salford from 3^rd December 2024 to 5^th January 2025.

Performance runtime – 1 hour 40 minutes without interval