Come From Away

When you first entered the foyer, you were greeted by a map of the UK and Wales where you could pin where you were from like the ‘come from aways’.  It was a lovely welcome by the company, and I was looking forward to seeing their take on this very popular show. When you first enter the auditorium, the stage was open so you could see the set and the musicians on stage, which added to the ambience of the piece. The 8 piece orchestra, led exceptionally by Matt Hampson, were a great backing for the piece and brought to life the folk sound needed for the show. The ugly stick was a particularly lovely bit of the show, and I must say the outro at the end when all the audience were on their feet showing their appreciation was one of my highlights. 

As I was already somewhat familiar with the show, I was interested to see the interpretation that Melyncrythan would give us. When the music started and the performers first entered the stage, you could tell we were in for a special night. ‘Claude’ played by Keith Ivett, started the show strongly and introduced us to our setting, the rest of the cast then slowly trickled in and we were away. Throughout the opening number we were introduced to the rest of the company, ‘Beulah’ played exceptionally well by Zoe Walters, and ‘Beverley’ and others, played by a very talented Lauren Pughsley. Then we were introduced to ‘Oz’ played by a comical Joe Walters, and ‘Bonnie’ played touchingly by Rhian Bourne. Then we met “Kevin T and others’ played strongly by Andy Walters-Burnett, and ‘Kevin and others’ played sensitively by Conor Pope. We then saw ‘Janice and others’ played rather lovely by Jaimee Fraser-Ivett, and ‘Diane and others’ played by an outstanding Karen Myring. ‘Hannah and others’ played by Jennie McClymont, who is someone I had not seen perform before, but she managed to convey the emotion of a grieving mother so realistically. And last but certainly not least were ‘Bobbi and others’ played by a hilarious Nicole Hudson, and ‘Nick and others’ played brilliantly by Paul Rees. 

Throughout the whole piece, you could feel the work and love that the company had poured into the production. The whole thing flowed seamlessly from one song to the next, and you didn’t feel that the pace of the piece slowed at any point. The use of the chairs and tables were cleverly interwoven into the blocking and conveyed the places that they represented, like the planes and bar. The small changes of costume were subtly done and managed to convince us that the person was a different character. Some of the highlights for me were Something’s Missing, the song was deeply poignant and did bring a tear to my eye. 

Another highlight was the prayer song, where you could see the different religions and the care that went into the learning of the different prayers. I thoroughly enjoyed Lauren’s rendition of ‘Me and the Sky’, she managed to convey the joy and sadness that the song asks for. The added voices of the other women made the whole song crescendo and was another highlight. Direction and movement were slickly done by Anthony and his assistant Steph, and the movement did not take away from the plot. I was absolutely blown away by the tenderness and care that the whole production took with this piece. It was a complete ensemble piece, not one character outshone the other, which is sometimes difficult to achieve, but I believe this production did that. Congratulations Melyncrythan Musical Theatre Company on another fabulous production.

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