Come From Away

Theatre Royal, Nottingham

On the northeast tip of North America, on an island called Newfoundland, there’s an airport – it used to be one of the biggest airports in the world – and next to it is a town called Gander.

Come From Away is the story of that small town and the people in it, when 38 planes were diverted there following the 9/11 attacks in 2001. Overnight the town population nearly doubles as the passengers on those planes are unloaded into Gander leaving residents rallying together to feed, clothe, and support an extra 7,000 people.

Community spirit is the heart of the show and it really shines through in this production by Carlton Operatic Society at the Theatre Royal in Nottingham this week. The cast is huge, which works well for this show as the feeling of a small town being filled beyond capacity is easy to believe when the stage itself is bursting at the seams.

Come From Away is an ensemble show and there are very few moments in the show where there aren’t at least ten people on the stage at one time. Director and choreographer Rachel Rees does an excellent job at ensuring everyone is given a moment in the spotlight whilst maintaining a frenetic energy throughout. The show is in almost constant motion making for an extremely engaging production. The show doesn’t have an interval, but you barely notice as the show is perfectly paced to keep the scenes, action and music flowing.

Abby Wells as pilot Beverly is a particular standout. Beverly Bass was the first female captain of an American Airlines plane and Wells’ performance of the Me and the Sky is full of character and vocally powerful. Through Wells, you can see how important flying is to Beverley and how the use of planes in 9/11 has shook her world.

Another vocal highlight is Kate Taylor playing Hannah, mother to one of the firefighters who attended the scene. Taylor captures Hannah’s desperation as she tries to find any news about her son. Her performances of I Am Here and Something’s Missing are emotionally wrought and, I am not ashamed to say, brought tears to my eyes.

On board those 38 planes were people from many different faiths. Ali (played by Sam Turpin) is a Muslim and is ostracised by some people given their fear that he might be a terrorist. However, he finds kindness in the Newfoundlanders who help him to find peaceful places to pray.

Around the midway point of the show is the beautiful Prayer led by Oliver Wheddon’s (playing Kevin T) smooth rendition of the Prayer of St Francis. Characters of other faiths join in the prayer, singing in their own language to produce a beautiful and hopeful picture of community togetherness.

There are too many people in the cast to be able to celebrate every person by name for their excellent performance, but I will give a final cast shoutout to Graham Ward playing Claude, the Mayor of Gander. Ward leads the cast for Screech In. Here, Claude inducts some of the ‘Come From Aways’ to become honorary Newfoundlanders in what can only be described as a song-and-dance number of pure, unadulterated joy.

As is typical for this show, the set is relatively spare, consisting primarily of chairs which are manoeuvred around the stage by the cast to represent whatever space is needed in that moment. This is complemented by Tom Mowat’s lighting design to centre attention on the characters.

The live orchestra under the musical direction of Chris Rees is excellent, really helping to heighten the emotion and fun of the production.

This production is one of the easiest five stars I’ve awarded: a triumph of theatre and community spirit. It is playing in Nottingham until Saturday 30 May.

Photo credit: Martin Holtom