COME FROM AWAY caused PETE’S EYEBROWS to form a SUPREME ARCH!
The Dramatic Premise
It’s another sleepy day in Gander, Newfoundland. The mayor is collecting the local gossip at Tim Hortons, even though he doesn’t drink coffee. The local cop is running his radar. Parents are taking their children to school. And then they learn, one by one, of the tragedy in NYC.
For the first time in history, the United States airspace is closed, which means that transatlantic planes in transit need somewhere to land. Before the advent of long-haul jet engines, Gander was a re-fuelling point for aircraft travelling from Europe to North America, so it boasts a large, now minimally used, international airport. What better place to divert 38 planes barred entry to the United States?
The local population springs into action. Its population doubles overnight with scared, tired and angry travellers who just want to get to where they’re going. But if you’re ever stranded, Gander is where you want to be abandoned. They treat “the plane people”, these people who have “come from away”, like family. And, by the time they leave, they are family.
Why Come From Away is Different
Any student of drama knows that a compelling story requires conflict.
Think the Jets and the Sharks in West Side Story. Think Elder Price and Elder Cunningham in the Book of Mormon. And think Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton in Hamilton.
What makes the story in Come From Away different is the virtual absence of conflict.
Yes, one of the couples in the ensemble break up because they experience being stranded in Gander differently. And, yes, there is some minor conflict, in the middle of the story, when some agitated plane people become suspicious of one of their fellow come from aways who happens to be Muslim.
But, the majority of the story is about shared humanity in the face of tragedy. People coming together, rather than people being driven apart.
That’s what makes Come From Away such a beautiful, uplifting musical. It reminds us that we are part of a community and that being kind and generous to people in need is what makes a community great.
The Moment
Though set against the background of 9/11, Come From Away treats the tragedy with respect. References to what happened on that horrible day in NYC are fleeting and never gratuitous. The writers wisely understood that most of the audience has their own memory of what happened. Any attempt to further dramatise the attacks would be superfluous.
My wife and I originally saw Come From Away on Broadway in April 2018 with, I believe, much of the original cast.
We were wiping tears from our eyes when we rose to our feet at the curtain call.
The same for the Sydney production. I thought the ensemble cast were terrific. There’s a remarkable moment, towards the end of the show, when the come from aways leave Gander. The thought flashed through my mind that I will miss those performers, until it struck me that the performers remained on stage…they had just transformed, once again, into their alternate roles as Gander town folk.
We soon discover that the people of Gander were changed by their experience as much as the come from aways were. And, in both instances, for the better.
Come From Away is a great telling of a great story which deserves to be told and re-told.
For more information on Come From Away:
(Originally posted on 8 January 2023.)
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