REVIEW: Come From Away Keeps Theatre Goers In Their Seats Until The Final Note
Photos by Evan Zimmerman
“The terrific cast plays many roles, deftly changing characters onstage in front of us with a change of a piece of costume, powering the runaway train pace of this show.”
Come From Away is back at Proctors, thrilling its hardy fan base with its extremely popular staging of this deeply human story of kindness, generosity and hospitality.
Come From Away by Irene Sankoff and David Hein opens strongly with the rousing “Welcome to the Rock” on 9/11/2001 in the town of Gander, Newfoundland and introduces us to many in town – the mayor (Andrew Hendrick), the schoolteacher (Kristin Litzenberg) and a local ASPCA worker (Kathleen Cameron) among others. The terrific cast plays many roles, deftly changing characters onstage in front of us with a change of a piece of costume, powering the runaway train pace of this show.
Quickly, the news of the terrorist attacks in New York pierce the Tuesday morning Tim Hortons visit as radios are turned on and the only reporter on the island (Jordan Hayakawa) lets everyone know what’s what. Gander has a huge airport as it used to be a refueling spot for planes flying across the Atlantic but it has long been in disuse as jet planes can make the trip on one tank of fuel.
Due to its size and remote location, on this tragic morning it will see “38 Planes” (as the second song in the show is called) grounded as no one knows which aircraft could be the next bomb after the four that hit the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and crashed in Shanksville, PA. The size of the town will swell overnight from 9,000 to 16,000.
How will they shelter and feed all these people for the next four days? Schools are opened, donations are made and the intransigent bus strike is quickly resolved. So too, the suspicions and fear of homosexuals, Muslims and independent women are worked out unbelievably quickly in sharp-pointed dialogue that flies by us.
President George W. Bush makes a mournful, calming appearance reminding us of a different time not so long ago and the Canadians take a moment of silence to commemorate all the thousands of American lives lost on that day. It inspires one of the characters to remark that he doesn’t think Americans would react the same. With the pitched antagonism of the current political party in charge, threatening to annex Canada as the 51st state, I’m not sure how welcome we would be there right now.
The beautiful spacious set is designed by Barrington Stage Associate Artist Beowulf Borrit and features a rough, hewn wood-paneled upstage wall, plank floor and a collection of trees that mask the great band stage left and right. On a couple of numbers the band joins the cast to make a real party atmosphere, with music direction by Sarah Pool Wilhelm.
The standout Broadway belt song, “Me and the Sky,” is handled beautifully by Kaitlyn Jackson but typical for this humble, “we’re all in it together” show, it takes no break for applause for this rousing anthem. The whole aesthetic of the show, directed by Christopher Ashley, is on normal people acting in extraordinary ways to shine a light on the helpers in the darkest of times. It is a message the audience is starved for and laps up hungrily, uncharacteristically staying in their seat rather than dashing for their cars for the entire curtain call and clapping along until the final note has been played.
