Come From Away

There has been a lot of excitement surrounding this show, a new kid on the block that has only just been released for Amateur use and, apart from RADA, has not been performed since the professional version in the West End of London, which ran for 1,669 performances from 2019 until January 2023. BATS therefore have the prestigious honour of being the first amateur society in the country to perform it.

To paraphrase their very detailed programme, the story is based on the real events and people from the town of Gander in Newfoundland directly following the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers when, subsequently, US airspace was shut down and 38 planes were forced to land at Gander airport in Newfoundland, effectively doubling the population with an extra 6,579 passengers and crew  to house and feed during the following few days. It is the story both of the people on board and the how the townsfolk rallied round to help out in this emergency.

Just to make things slightly more complicated, the original show was done with just twelve actors playing all the parts, but BATS decided to be more inclusive and distribute them amongst 23 actors, which as the whole cast are on stage for most of show with an awful lot of furniture in the way, consisting of mainly chairs and tables together with a seven piece band, needed to be a very slickly choreographed and organised. From that point of view alone it was indeed very impressively done. A very brave (or perhaps risky?) decision by Gareth Griffiths-Powell directing his first ever show!

The stage set, under the management of Flo Adrianski and Molly Meehan, who worked with the set designers, Scenery Solutions to build the set as near as possible to the original stage show was stylised wooden, floor to ceiling slated flats, a nod to the style of housing in Gander, each slat interspersed with parallel LED lights most lit with blue, but changed to yellow for some scenes. To the centre rear the middle section of the slats opened to reveal a doorway, Entrances and exits were either upstage or downstage of the side flats – very impressive indeed. Furniture consisting of mainly a motley, but wholly appropriate, collection of 25 chairs and 3 tables, which were moved from scene to scene by the cast and were positioned in a precise military operation, and it needed to be. Representing at various times, the seats on the plane, or on the bus, or hotel receptions rooms, or the airport, all moved around by this well drilled cast. Not once did any of the repositioning slow the pace of the show in any way whatsoever! That’s some achievement by chief “chair plotter” Spice New-Szarvas, who, once they had blocked each scene, then recorded the movements and plotted the placements of the furniture so that any time they got stuck they could revert to the plan. Clever!  And spread across the back of the set was the seven-piece band as per the original show! Luckily the Academy stage is fairly large!

Appropriate lighting by Technical Manager Dave Maltby worked very well and was particularly impressive with the use of the lines of LEDs in between the slats to represent the blues of the seas, and sky themed throughout the setting of Gander. Sound was mainly OK, but a couple of mic glitches and, at least for my ears, the band playing the underscoring a bit too loudly made some of the dialogue disappear into the ether. But considering 70% of the dialog is underscored I think they did particularly well.  I do however confess I have never been a fan of underscoring dialogue.

The excellent ‘Gander’ band under conductor Tim Gardiner on percussion consisted of Sarah Rees on Piano/Keys, Stephen Denman on Bass, Craig Santus on Drums, Kaat de Backer on Fiddle, Sean Walton on Whistles and Dave Montgomery-Law on Guitars.

When we first arrived the reception area was cleverly decked out as the departure lounge for our ‘flight’, the FOH staff all dressed as airline staff in White blouses or shirts and red and blue neckerchiefs or ties. The auditorium was set out with all the chairs grouped into threes as per the inside of an aircraft and the usual safety announcements were made from the stage by one of the cast playing a member of the cabin crew! Exceedingly well thought out!

The songs started off in a very forceful ‘Les Miserable’ manner with a stonking stamping opener, Welcome to the Rock, accompanied by some very aggressive choreography, brilliantly executed. Fabulously watchable. So take bow all who were responsible. We had seventeen songs in total celebrating almost every aspect of what this unexpected situation could throw up. The choreography is very much part of the blocking process in the show and Kay Young and Gareth Griffiths-Powell blocked the majority of the scenes and were supported by Sarah Vahmyanina and Kerry Hewish for a few of the other scenes – A total of 41 scenes which flow from one to the next, with no real distinction to the audience. Because the chairs and tables had to perform the exact functions of 3 separate planes, the 4 different busses, the airport etc., they had to ensure that the movement was replicated from the original stage show. So the blocking method were precise copies of the stage show. They also did a lot of pre-work to understand the real stories and characters, including watching documentaries.

The pace of the show was relentless and the acting of a very high quality, with the various characters interactions defined in quick fire scenes. For example, we started with Claude, the Mayor, played by Conor Smith in a labour dispute with Garth the union representative for bus drivers played by Ollie Elkin who have to patch up their differences to get the passengers from the airport. They agree to the suspend hostilities, but all will go back to normal once the passengers have left, which is exactly what happens, all portrayed with an underlining humour of watching them bicker. Or, the blossoming relationship between Englishmen Nick played by the Director himself, Gareth Griffith-Powell and fellow passenger Diane played by Kerry Hewish. Some were funny, some poignant, with each showing how people react in times of crisis, both good and bad, such as everybody shunning Ali, played by Russ Jones, a totally innocent Muslim, and the authorities detaining him for a humiliating body search. Or Beulah, played by Kay Young, the local teacher who did a lot of the organising and negotiating. Or my favourite, Bonnie, played by Luutsche Ozinga, who looked after all the forgotten animals on the fight and who ends up looking after, amongst many others, two Bonobo Chimpanzees, which apparently are banned in Canada. Each of the twenty-eight characters told their own story, which certainly kept the audience totally engaged.

Having only seen this for the very first time it is very difficult to take in everything in what was a very fast paced show, but what stood out for me was the choral numbers such as the opening number Welcome to the Rock and 38 Planes.  There were some excellent solo numbers, the most stand out of which was probably Me and My Sky sung by Katrina Harrington as American Airlines first female pilot, Captain Beverley Bass, which I’m told is one of the most difficult songs in the Musical Theatre. In fact a lot of the songs are really difficult especially when sung in six part harmony, but BATS had certainly put in the work to nail them.

My overall impression was a roller coaster of emotions as the various character reveal their back stories, especially when you realise, they are all based on real characters or an amalgamation of them, making the story particularly poignant. Such as when they are stuck on the plane and forbidden to leave whilst being given no information as to why or what is happening, expressed through the song 24 Hours/ Wherever Are We. The accents were a surprise being mainly Celtic in original as Newfoundland was mostly colonised by those of Irish descent and apparently still in dominance to this day.

So well done indeed to Gareth Griffiths-Powell, his cast and crew, for our first ever look at what, if this production is anything to go by, is likely to become a regular among groups all across the district. We already know of at least one other District 2 group who have put it on their 2026 season. A thoroughly entertaining production of which BATS can be immensely proud!  I’m pleased to be able to say I had the privilege of seeing the first performance of the amateur premiere.

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