Come from Away

The airport announcement in the foyer of the Thameside Theatre, Grays, ushered us past the airline stewards collecting the tickets to the main auditorium. This set the scene perfectly for TOPS performance of Come from Away. This is such a busy, technically intricate story, that showcases emotional highs and darker lows of the famous display of collective kindness by the people of Gander after the 9/11 catastrophe. It was fascinating to see how Director Luke Coldham, assisted by Liane Alton, would organise the set, actors and general logistics of this one act musical. In the end, the pace of the show was slick and fast moving but allowing breathing spaces to appreciate the more intense moments.

The set was beautifully done. There were slim tree trunks surrounding a revolving stage on which chairs were perched that would form the framework for the differing venues within the show. Refreshingly, the band under, the expert guidance MD Clare Benson, was on stage tucked behind the trees but visible to the audience, and the musical capacity and excellence could be witnessed by us all. The number of instruments used by these talented musicians was unbelievable. They ranged from keyboards, whistles, flutes and mandolins to a range of percussion and a haunting violin. My apologies if I have got the instruments wrongly named but the sound they made and the amazing atmosphere they created was astounding especially when leading the party from onstage at the end!

The initial song, Welcome to the rock, was powerfully choreographed by Luke and introduced us to the storyline and the town of Gander where the action takes place. The revolve was in use constantly and so effectively throughout the show and was well worth the investment! I really enjoyed the choreography on the plane when landing too. The logistics of the performance was masterly both in choreographed moves and in transferring costumes, props and scenery to create a set of thoroughly credible scenarios in which to enact the true story of 7,000 diverted airline passengers to Newfoundland during the 9/11 crisis. The action was totally fluid and the quality of singing and acting was just superb. There was not a single weak link in all the people onstage. How fantastic is that for an amateur performance!

Now, to credit individual actors in the show is going to be difficult. To be honest, I was so gripped with the storyline that I forgot to write notes. There were 12 main performers in this very small society. All of which had 2,3 or, in the case of Michael Southgate, 8 different roles. I always enjoy watching Michael perform and the Rabbi, was beautifully personified as was Oz, the police officer. The range of accents demonstrated by all the cast was amazing, even when singing! Joe Drury is another very accomplished actor and he played Kevin T coupled with Garth, the head of the striking bus driver’s union. These roles involved much switching of high vis jackets but the storyline of Kevin and his boyfriend also named Kevin was gripping. Kevin T managed to participate in even the fish-kissing in Gander but, sadly, to the demise of his relationship with Kevin played by Chris Foale. Chris coupled his role with Ali, a Muslim, and the connection between the religious factions on board the stranded planes was beautifully illustrated in the song Prayer where the revolve was used to great effect. Billy Knowles, primarily, took on the roles of Nick and Doug. Nick was a softly spoken oil engineer from England who falls for Diane, played by Hollie Brown. They were both delightful in these roles and played them in a beautifully understated way. We were all hoping that things would work out between you…these were just lovely performances. Sam Knight’s depiction of Bob and his journey through suspicion to trusting these kind people was very well done and Claude, the Mayor of the town, played by Ian Benson, was portrayed so well as a suitably confused and but totally out of his depth official.

Lauren Jones had a peach of a role as Captain Beverly. I loved the true story of how she managed to become the first female pilot on American Airlines and Lauren commanded not only the plane but also the stage with her strength of performance and stage presence. Lauren Ghost, as Bonnie, provided some relief in the tension by seeking out the animals and finding bonobo chimpanzees, This was a charming role and she played it beautifully. Angela Philips, as Beulah, was great as the organising, officious teacher but showed a lovely gentle side when connecting with Hannah, played by Samantha Lewin, as a firefighter’s mother. No spoilers here but this was a really sad part of the story which did not end happily for her. Samantha gave a lovely performance of this worried mother, coupled with a lovely soft singing voice. The newbie TV reporter Janice, depicted by Louise H Dougherty, was great fun and served as a great thread running between the scenarios on stage.

A couple of first night glitches occurred with sound and light but this did not detract from the immense amount of work, dedication and creativity that had been poured into this production. The end result richly deserved a standing ovation and many left the theatre wondering how Luke could have achieved such an amazing result in a local theatre with local actors. Huge congratulations to you all and thank you for inviting me to this stunning show.

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