Come From Away

Guiseley Theatrical Productions gave us a recipe for success this week. Start by being the first company in the area to secure a current West End show. Then add the cream of local performers from all around the area, employ a cherry of a high-class production team, sprinkle in a great backstage and technical crew and perform at an excellent local venue. Stir carefully and simmer for about a year. Delicious.

Come From Away is a musical with a strong moral message. Through music and song, it demonstrates how fear breeds hatred of the people whom we see as strangers. By contrast an open, welcoming heart leads to faith, hope and love. GTP brought this welcoming tale home to Yeadon Town Hall this week. There was a warmth emanating from the stage which told us these actors performed with full trust in each other. There was great synchronisation of movement and interesting chair-ography. Most actors played several roles and there was consistent physicality for each character, high energy and commitment at all times. For a production where there is little down time for any of the actors, full credit to everyone involved.

In such a team effort it seems churlish to single out individual performers so instead I am going to choose a few characters who stood out for me: the Englishman, the pilot, the animal lover, the Kevins, the Spaniard, the primary school head, the checkout operative, the Rabbi, Anette and the toilet cleaners. All brought joy to the stage, some of them in just a few seconds of appearance time. There were some standout musical moments including Welcome to the Rock, Thirty-eight Planes, Prayer, Me and the Sky and Heave Away. The ensemble singing and movement was excellent throughout.

The cast handled the transfer from comedy to tragedy really well and the audience went along with them on a tide of changing emotions. There had also obviously been a lot of work put into acquiring authentic Newfoundland accents and credible accents from other characters from across the world. National and international shock and sorrow so widespread in 2001 is best demonstrated through individual stories and these fifteen actors demonstrated that beautifully. We recognised these people and felt their joy, fear and pain; their strengths and their inadequacies.

The single set was appropriately rustic and covered all scenarios, the random chairs acted as all the set needed and the cast themselves filled in any gaps in our imaginations. Most of the story telling in this piece is done through narration and my only criticism would be that it was not always easy to hear the voices, especially over the sound of the band, so I may have missed some of the detail. But we were all carried along on a wave of empathy, many of us remembering those dark days in September 2001 when we were unsure quite what would happen next in our world.

Well done to Rick Hyland, Kara Mottram and Ian Sapiro and his band for pulling this talent together so effectively, and to the GTP committee for their foresight and vision in securing this wonderful musical. Indeed, many congratulations to everyone involved. You don’t need me to tell you how good it was, because the audience reaction at the end told you all you needed to know. Thanks for inviting me.

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