By Jasmine Ong
The first time I saw a bit of Come From Away, was during the Company’s performance of ‘The Rock’ during the 2017 Tony Awards. While I had enjoyed that short introduction of sorts into the musical, I never truly understood the impact of it until I watched the filmed stage production in 2021 on Apple TV.
Even though I loved big stage sets and huge musical numbers just like any other theatre goer, I always loved when productions are able to deliver a story perfectly and effectively with just the basics — a simple set, minimal props and a phenomenal small group of performers.
This was what Pangdemonium! delivered with its rendition of Come From Away, which was based on the events in Gander, Newfoundland, following the September 11 attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center in New York City.
Image courtesy of Pangdemonium!.
Due to the events that unfolded, 38 planes that were carrying approximately 7,000 passengers, were ordered to land in the small town of Gander, where its residents came together to ensure that the stranded travellers were housed, fed and cared for.
The characters that you meet in the musical were based on actual Gander residents and the stranded travellers.
We are all familiar with the tragedy of September 11, but Come From Away helped to shed light on a lesser known event that happened in the wake of the attacks, which highlighted the beautiful side of humanity during a time when it mattered most.
Image courtesy of Pangdemonium!.
Instead of explicitly into the horrific details of the World Trade Center tragedy, the musical offers snippets of the incident in a tasteful manner, drawing focus instead, on how the attacks (as it unfolded in New York) was not only a domestic tragedy, but an international one.
The simple staging, in my opinion, worked really well for a musical like Come From Away, because it did not pull focus away from the performers, who were critical for the storytelling. It was through them that we were able to understand the emotions of two groups of people — the helpful and friendly Gander residents and the scared, confused and hesitant stranded travellers — who were suddenly thrust into a situation that tested their belief in humanity.
Image courtesy of Pangdemonium!.
Made up of just 12 men and women, the cast were a brilliant bunch. If we thought playing one character was already difficult enough, try playing more than one character while toggling between accents.
While I didn’t have a favourite character, I was particularly impressed with both Inch Chua (who plays Diane and others) and Rebekah Sangeetha Dorai (who plays Beverley, Annette and others). The women not only effortlessly played very differing characters, but were able to effectively convey the varying emotions for their roles to make it seem like that there were two different people playing the roles!
At its heart, Come From Away celebrates the goodness in humanity in one of its devastating moments and shows that even when faced with adversity, positive acts of kindness between strangers still exist. It also serves to remind us that even in this complicated and fast-paced world, sometimes all you need are acts of kindness, selflessness, empathy and compassion to make a difference in someone’s life.
