Picture: Craig Sugden
Come From Away continues at the Phoenix Theatre, London and this week celebrates its first year in London’s West End.
Is there a show in the West End that has a bigger heart or that delivers a more affecting, emotional punch than Come From Away? I seriously doubt it. Sure, there are musicals with grander sets, bigger orchestras, louder-belting divas and more audacious set pieces. But there’s nothing quite as honest, as life-affirming or as resonant for our times than this humbling true-life tale from Canada.
Come From Away, which has just celebrated its first year at the Phoenix Theatre in London’s Charing Cross Road, has lost none of its emotional impact or ability to move audiences. In fact, I found it harder to keep it together on my second visit, not particularly because of the recent change of cast – or the presence of some of the real-life characters involved – but mostly because the show seems more pertinent than ever.
Endless Brexit debates, Extinction rallies, high street brands going into administration, floodings, immigration debates… It’s been a rollercoaster year here in the UK since Come From Away opened in London in February 2019. To cap it all, we’re now in a coronavirus panic and encouraged to adopt ‘social distancing’ (yeah, good luck with this in a theatre!). And oh how we laughed nervously at the reference to the lack of toilet paper.
So, to sit down for an uninterrupted 100 minutes and witness how the tiny Canadian town of Gander coped with the aftermath of 9-11 was a practically restorative experience, once again renewing my faith in humanity, just as it did a year ago when I first saw the show.
A small band of 12 utterly captivating actors and nine or so musicians recount the tale of the events in the week following the September 11th terrorist attacks. The story is told firsthand, from the perspective of the Newfoundlanders who welcomed the passengers and crew of 38 planes diverted to the remote island of Gander – aka the Rock – and the visitors themselves, who are initially suspicious, angry, confused or all three. The unique circumstance deeply affects both the community and those who ‘come from away’, and lasting friendships are forged.
The folk-inspired music that threads its way through the stories – book, music and lyrics by the Canadian married couple Irene Sankoff and David Hein (until CFA, best known for the cult fringe musical My Mother’s Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding, or so Wikipedia tells me) – is naturalistic and informal, and is as life-affirming as the material it’s accompanying. The music has that Once-style jam-session-down-the-pub feel, meaning you warm to the material immediately, and MD Alan Berry’s band is totally on the ball, even joining in with the action from time to time.
Coinciding with the anniversary was a refreshing of the cast. Joining existing cast members Jenna Boyd, Mary Doherty, Jonathan Andrew Hume, Harry Morrison, Emma Salvo, Cat Simmons (and standbys Chiara Baronti, Alexander McMorran and Jennifer Tierney) are Tarinn Callender, James Doherty, Mark Dugdale, Alice Fearn, Kate Graham and Alistair Harvey (and Ricardo Castro, Stuart Hickey, Sorelle Marsh, Micha Richardson and Matthew Whennell-Clark). All do a faultless job.
In a short address to the audience after the anniversary performance, newbie James Doherty, who plays the Mayor of Gander, generously welcomed the ‘super standbys’ to the stage and explained their importance to the show. Also introduced to the audience were two real-life Gander-ites, Brian Mosher and Bonnie Harris. There couldn’t’ve been a dry eye in the house by the end of the night.
Come From Away rightly won Best New Musical at the recent WhatsOnStage Awards, so if you’ve not yet seen it, get yourself down to the Phoenix and see why it was a deserving winner. It’s heartening to know that a new, original musical that doesn’t rely on whiz-bang effects or stunt casting can thrive in the West End. As an ardent fan of musical theatre, this is the kind of show that I’m wholly convinced we need more of in town, rather than the slew of jukebox musicals and movie adaptations that tend to swamp Theatreland.
As Doherty said in his curtain call, if we all learned a lesson from Gander, the world would be a better place.
Craig Glenday
Tickets for Come From Away are available HERE.
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