Review: Come From Away at the Phoenix Theatre, London
Every once in a while, a show comes along that reimagines what musical theatre can be. Come From Away, a 100 minute one-act musical created by Canadian husband and wife team Irene Sankoff and David Hein, is one such show.
For a long time, this was a show I was vaguely aware of but that wasn’t particularly on my radar as something to prioritise seeing. I gave it more attention after hearing one of the songs on a Spotify musical theatre mix, eventually listening to the entire soundtrack and then watching the Broadway proshot on Apple TV+.
It’s quickly become one of my favourite musicals and I was delighted to finally get to see the West End version this week and to introduce my partner to it.
The front of the Phoenix Theatre, London. Photo: mine.
Putting our pin in the map! Photo: mine:
What’s it about?
(Please note: review will contain plot spoilers.)
Gander is a small town, population approximately 9000, located on “the north-east tip of North America” on the island of Newfoundland, Canada. It’s a normal Tuesday morning and the locals welcome the audience to their home on “The Rock,” telling us where they are and how they start their day.
But everything is about to change. The United States’ airspace has been closed, 38 passenger jets have been ordered to land unexpectedly at Gander Airport, and the town is about to play host to 7000 stranded people from around the world. Because it’s Tuesday, September 11th, 2001.
Come From Away is a remarkable true story about what happened in Gander on 9/11 and over the next five days. We follow both the “plane people” and the locals as, amidst the horror and tragedy of what happened in America, people care for their fellow humans and lifelong bonds are forged.
All of the characters are based, to a greater or lesser extent, on real people. Some - including gay couple Kevin T. and Kevin J., pilot Beverley, and newly-in-love Nick and Diane - are lifted almost entirely from their real-life counterparts, sharing their names and stories and with some dialogue and lyrics even taken verbatim from their interviews with the show’s creators. Others are composite characters (teacher Beulah Davies is a mix of real-life Beulah Cooper and Diane Davis, Muslim chef Ali is based on several different Middle Eastern passengers and the discrimination they suffered in the wake of 9/11, and reporter Janice Mosher is a mash-up of real journalists Brian Mosher and Janice Goudie).
Any content notes?
Well, it’s based in the aftermath of 9/11, so there’s obviously some upsetting content connected to that. The stranded passengers are understandably devastated, afraid and angry, particularly those who cannot reach their loved ones. There is one particularly heartbreaking moment when a mother learns that her son has been killed in the towers during a rescue mission.
The Muslim character, Ali, experiences racial and religious prejudice at several points throughout the show. This includes other characters treating him with a general air of suspicion and at one point, outright racial abuse. This culminates in Ali being strip-searched before being allowed back onto his plane to leave, an experience he relays as profoundly violating on both a personal and religious level. Though this is difficult and painful to watch, it’s an important inclusion. It would be deeply irresponsible to tell this story without confronting these realities, which many innocent people really faced.
There are some brief and in-context uses of bad language (two uses of “f*ck” and and two or three uses of “sh*t”.)
The official recommendation is that this show is suitable for ages 10+.
Come From Away: My Review
If I could impart one thought about this show, it would be this: don’t be put off by the subject matter. You might have heard of “the 9/11 musical” but I promise, it’s so much more than that. It’s been said that this is actually not a 9/11 story but a 9/12 story, showcasing the best of humanity amidst one of the darkest chapters of recent history. It’s also not, ultimately, a depressing show. Of course it has its sad moments, and if you’re anything like me you’ll cry more than once, but it’s also uplifting and life-affirming and surprisingly funny.
The London cast of Come From Away. Official production photo.
Come From Away is the truest definition of an ensemble piece, with all the actors on stage throughout the entire hour-and-40-minutes (no interval). This must be absolutely exhausting and yet their energy never wavers. Even more amazingly, a cast of just 12 - six men and six women - play dozens of roles between them, portraying both the Ganderites and the “plane people”. With a change of accent, a jacket or a hat or a prop, they become someone else in front of our eyes again and again and again.
Every member of the cast was fantastic individually, with brilliant voices, perfect comic timing, and tearjerking emotional rawness in spades. But it is the collective energy that really makes this show what it is. In watching this show that is all about community and togetherness, you get a sense that the cast and crew is also a kind of close and caring community.
We got to see one of the swing performers, Ricardo Castro, covering the roles of Kevin J and Ali. I am endlessly in awe of swings, who learn multiple roles and often go on at short notice, and it’s always a treat to see one of them in action. Castro’s Kevin J and his boyfriend Kevin T, played by Mark Dugdale (“we’re both named Kevin… it was cute for a while”) show the contrasting ways people deal with stressful situations, with KT trying to make the most of things while KJ alternates between “freaking the f*** out” and trying to pretend none of it is happening.
I also particularly loved Kate Graham and Robert Hands as the absolutely adorable and hilarious Diane and Nick. Watching one couple fall in love as another relationship breaks down shows another contrast: the way that tragedy can bring people together or tear them apart.
The show’s staging is deceptively simple, making use of little more than a few tables, chairs, trees, and a revolve to turn the stage into an array of locations including a plane, a school, a bar, a coffee shop, a church, and more. It’s about as far from the glitz and glamour of classical musical theatre staging as you can get, and it’s all the more powerful for it.
Come From Away doesn’t so much break the fourth wall as largely refuse to acknowledge its existence. The characters talk directly to the audience at multiple points throughout, adding to the “verbatim” nature of the retelling. They draw us into the story, with the Gander residents welcoming us into their world as they welcomed the come-from-aways, and the plane people inviting us to imagine how we might cope in a similar situation. (“I think my answer is likely ‘not very well!’”, I joked to my partner afterwards.)
When I tweeted about how much I loved the show, the official account asked which moment got to me the most, and that’s honestly a hard question to answer. There are so many moments I could talk about, but this review is already getting ridiculously long so I’m just going to stick with three standouts in no particular order:
Alice Fearn’s (Beverley, Annette, and others) rendition of “Me and the Sky”, one of only two solo songs in the show, is show-stoppingly phenomenal, particularly her delivery of the famous “bomb” line. (Watch the official music video here).
Alice Fearn (centre) with the women of Come From Away London. Official production photo.
The moment when Hannah (Gemma Knight Jones) finally learns what has happened to her son, after spending the entire show trying to contact him, is nothing less than an emotional gut punch. There was not a dry eye in the house, as the cliché goes.
Finally, the song “Prayer” absolutely had me in bits. I don’t even really know why, given that I’m an atheist! I think it’s perhaps the moment that best conveys the sense of helplessness and desperation that everyone is feeling, as they all reach out to their various faiths’ higher powers for hope and comfort.
Come From Away is a near-perfect show and I honestly believe it’s the best thing to happen to musical theatre in decades. (Sorry, Hamilton - I still love you and it’s a close call, but this is even better.)
Oh, and in case you were wondering: my partner loved it, too. It’s always interesting taking him to musicals that I love, because we usually broadly agree on our likes and dislikes but there have been exceptions (one notable example is Les Miserables, which I adore and have seen nine times and he didn’t particularly care for). As a musician, he particularly liked the music in Come From Away and the use of the live band on stage.
I’m delighted to give this wonderful, wonderful show the first perfect five-star score I’ve yet awarded on this blog.
Where to get tickets
Come From Away is playing at the Phoenix Theatre in London’s West End until 7th January 2022, and you can get tickets on the official site here or from reputable West End ticket vendors.