Friends and Neighbors

Since it was made available for licensing, Irene Sankhoff & David Hein’s seminal musical Come From Away has become one of the most produced shows in the country. In Minnesota alone there are a half-dozen productions planned over the next two years or so. With so many planned, what is it that makes Come From Away so special, and does it risk becoming overexposed?

Thankfully, if the Guthrie Theatre’s new production is anything to go by, Come From Away is the sort of material that will never lose its power. This is a dynamic, life-affirming show that reminds you of what is best about humanity. With fast pacing and beautiful music combined with grounded, relatable performances, this is the sort of show that doesn’t just show you good people doing good things – it makes you want to be a better person yourself.

Come From Away is based on the true story of when in the wake of 9/11, a number of airliners were redirected to a small island in Newfoundland to stay while authorities determined whether or not it was safe to continue to fly. The passengers found themselves embraced by the local population who pooled their resources and skills in order to provide shelter and comfort for these strangers from around the world who were stranded in the middle of nowhere, not knowing when they’d ever return home.

Under director Kent Gash an ensemble of a dozen actors play hundreds of characters, representing a cross-section of the thousands of stranded passengers and the hundreds of locals who helped them. The passengers include such varied personalities as the first woman to serve as a captain for United Airlines, an Englishman who discovers the possibility of romance with a fellow passenger from Texas, a woman from New York desperate to reach her firefighter son, and an Egyptian man who is viewed with hostility due to his Muslim faith but only wants to health. Among the Newfoundlanders are the local mayor, a reporter for whom 9/11 was her first day on the job, a teacher whose school is turned into a shelter, and a veterinarian who jumps to action when she realizes there are probably animals aboard some of the planes. The cast does such an impeccable job of embodying these characters that it would almost feel like a disservice to single out any one over the others – they all work together like a well-oiled machine, weaving in and out of the story and never missing a beat in the process, even when the production itself had occasional audio issues on opening night.

Choreographer Bryon Easley does a remarkable job moving and organizing the cast – the entire ensemble is on stage for most of the show, and most everyone has something to do at any given time. Even during the large-scale sequences such as a party at the local lodge the reality is never broken – at no point do you forget these are just normal people,  with real foibles and flaws, doing what they can under extraordinary circumstances. When they dance, it feels as silly and spontaneous as any other time you or your friends have started to dance at a party. Nothing is over stylized, nothing feels out of place. What we’re seeing are the memories and emotions of real people, embodied through music, and it is executed extraordinarily well.

By the end, we witness a bittersweet departure for the passengers that leads in to a rousing finale set during the anniversary, where we see how the stories of the various passengers and locals turned out. Not all of it ends happily – nothing ever does – but you understand that for these people, they’ll always have this moment – a period of five days that reminded them that there are good people in the world, and that when it comes right down to it, we can and will do what we can to help each other out.

This is a lovely story of people working together and embracing their humanity for the sake of basic decency and the greater good – it’s easy to see why artists are eager to remind people that that is possible these days. Not to mention, at a time when relations between Canada and the United States have become strained due to the actions of a certain idiot in the White House, it’s nice to be reminded of a period when cooperation and belief in the common good transcended all. The Guthrie’s Come From Away is an absolute must-see… it is going to be one of the most impactful theatrical productions of the year.

COME FROM AWAY plays through August 9th at the McGuire Proscenium Stage at the Guthrie Theatre.