Photo credit: Matthew Murphy
I’m sure by now you’ve heard about this runaway Broadway hit. Come From Away is a play about what happened when planes were grounded on 9/11, and some 6,700 passengers and crew were diverted to the airport in Gander, Newfoundland—a town of about 11,000 on the northeast tip of the island.
But how do you represent 38 grounded flights, thousands of stranded passengers, a town come out to help, multiple locations, the shock of what happened, and the joy found in strangers’ kindness on a single stage?
You do it just like this.
Come From Away takes the sheer enormity of the event and turns it into a Newfoundland kitchen party—a place where everyone is welcome, grief is shared, food is served, whisky is always pouring, and every once in a while a cod is kissed.
From a stage that holds only trees, a handful of chairs, and some props, the cast of 12 recreates all the people, places, and events that made up the sudden 5-day stopover in Gander. The simplest change of costume—a hat here, a moustache there—and we are hearing from someone new. The quickest shift of chairs and we are transported from the inside of a plane to the mayor’s office, a late-night pub party, even a mountaintop overlooking the rugged Newfoundland terrain. It is swift, it is seamless, and it is utterly moving.
And of course the music. For what is a kitchen party without an accordion, a fiddle, and a tin flute? The unmistakable sounds of traditional Newfoundland music are present in every song, every bit of background music. The cast carries their pain and hope in lyrics that remind us of what’s happening outside the town—a pilot speaking to her husband, people trying to get through to family, two mothers searching for their sons.
At the same time, the band reminds us of where we are and why that’s special, and the passengers are invited to come on in, pull up a seat, and make themselves at home.
Then when the cast takes their final bow and the audience is on its feet, the band comes out from the shadows and treats us all to a proper jig—and you realize that you’ve been sitting at the table and part of the family all along.
The North American tour of Come From Away is playing at Place des Arts from November 26 to December 1. Get your tickets—quickly—right here.
