When I decided to attend Playhouse on the Square’s opening night performance of Come From Away, I had to look up the show —I had never heard of it. Upon a search, I was skeptical — I had never heard of the event it was retelling. The whole thing seemed like a bizarre concept for a musical. I had no idea what to expect. Within the first 15 minutes, I got it. This might be a bizarre concept, but it’s also a perfect one.
I was 10 years old on September 11th, 2001, and had only the vaguest notion of what all the adults were freaking out about. My father had worked at Memphis International Airport my entire life at that point, so you would think it might have occurred to me to wonder about what all the other airborne planes in the world had done that day, but I can honestly say it never crossed my mind until I watched this musical. (Like I said, I was only 10.) I’m guessing most people are a bit more informed than I was and will therefore be at least somewhat familiar with the small town of Gander, Newfoundland, and how more than 7,000 displaced air travel passengers were forced to land there in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. This musical follows a wide array of characters from the local townsfolk to one of the plane’s captains and tells the story of those few days from multiple cultural perspectives.
Watching this play is like watching the inside of a working clock. There are dozens of intricate moving parts in almost continuous interwoven movement. Most actors played multiple parts throughout the performance, and the musicians even joined the ensemble at certain points. The staging and choreography are masterful, with many cast members seamlessly changing from character to character with the simple addition of a hat or removal of a jacket. It feels like at least half the cast was always onstage, something that could have been chaotic but was instead like a well-oiled machine working at prime efficiency.
As soon as the show begins, we understand that these are everyday people. They’re dressed casually and simply; this is just another day for them until suddenly everything changes. The playwrights of Come From Away, Irene Sankoff and David Hein, traveled to Gander and interviewed local residents as part of their research for developing the script, and the authenticity certainly comes through. Many musicals are otherworldly, but this one lives solidly in our own, and thankfully, is so much richer for it. These characters feel like real-life people, which makes it all the more special when they rise to what seem like superhuman feats of kindness.
One of my favorite things about Come From Away is that it doesn’t shy away from darker themes by any means. Perhaps because it was written by Canadians, it lacks the almost ethnocentric lore that some Americans attach to the events of 9/11. This story shows us the raw reaction to the tragedy as well as the Islamophobia that followed. It shows us the fortitude and resilience of hope as well as the knee-jerk bitterness of fear. The characters of Gander are not portrayed as some sort of unrealistic angelic hosts, which lends their work and kindness and strength so much more gravitas. They are scared and irritated and exhausted, but they show up for their fellow humans anyway.
While I ended up loving the concept of turning this particular historical event into a musical, really the core message of the show could have been delivered in any number of other circumstances where, through community and kindness, everyday people became true heroes. The message can be summed up in one of the play’s lines, when one of the stranded passengers attempts to give payment to the local who took him in and is simply but resolutely refused with, “You’d a done the same.” This show manages to gently ask its audience “would you do the same?” while simultaneously reminding us that anyone can help a stranger in need.
Come From Away runs at Playhouse on the Square through September 14th.