COME FROM AWAY Opens at Northern Stage
10th anniversary of the Barrette Center for the Arts in White River Junction, Vermont
Who would have thought that witnessing kindness would be so moving?
“Welcome to the Rock” is the opening number of Northern Stage’s production of the multiple award-winning musical, Come From Away (book, music and lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein), introducing the audience to the townsfolk of Gander, Newfoundland and their thoroughly relatable small town life. And in a split second, everything changes on September 11, 2001, when 38 planes are diverted in mid-air to the semi-abandoned Gander airport after the Twin Towers in New York City are tragically reduced to ashes, debris, and bodies. A town of 10,000 people shows up for the 7,000 stranded passengers—who are initially ignorant of the reason for the emergency landings—from all corners of the earth. There are language and cultural barriers, religious differences, food preferences from kosher to vegan. And there is so little room.
It’s a story about the heroism of local mayors, school administrators, cooks and bus drivers, Walmart employees and people with grills in their backyards and kettles on the hob, who embrace their visitors despite the hardship. No one sleeps. Too caught up solving the next problem, and the next. Too devoted to the care and feeding of the un-showered and anxiety-ridden “Plane People.”
The stage is electric, fast-paced, with a cast of twelve portraying their major roles, and then a handful of other roles with a quick switching of hat or accent. Kudos to costume designer Laurie Churba for figuring out how a small onstage wardrobe change can evoke an entirely new character. Set designer David L. Arsenault takes you right to the cavernous Gander airport waiting room that with a rearrangement of molded chairs becomes a bus, a plane, a bar, a school. The musical numbers and the choreography by Kyle Brand shine, and pulse with energy, some pathos, and a lot of humor. Watch for those glove-snapping cardiologists.
A special shout out to Susan Haefner (Diane) and Benjamin Howes (Nick) because there just had to be a love interest somewhere in this story. They are the perfect combination of sweet and awkward. And Lisa Karlin (Beverley), the female pilot of an American Airlines international flight, gives a full-throated exposition on workplace gender inequality that will light up, among others, any women in the audience who have triumphed after slogging through the challenges of entering a male-dominated profession. The musical number, and Karlin, are magnificent. As is the band.
The opening night performance on Saturday garnered a standing ovation and a sea of teary people. I had seen this play before a few years ago and remember liking it but this reaction extended far beyond liking. “It’s the right show at the right time,” director Carol Dunne stated in post-show remarks. In my humble opinion, the emotional wallop is the result of a comparison that did not exist a few years ago but does now, between the awfulness of our current politics of hate and division, and a story—a true one, no less—of a different time and place when nastiness was not the order of the day.
The morning after the show, as I was writing this post, a cartoon (below) floated across my screen. So apt.
Tired of the staggering, or worse, screaming into the void? Be kind to yourself and get a ticket for Come From Away. You’ll feel warmth, empathy, see hard work, people helping strangers, the answer to the famous Rodney King question of “Can’t we all get along?” It will soothe your chronic heartache and challenge you to channel your frazzled empathy in a fruitful, maybe new, direction. We can hope for better. The islanders of Gander are living proof.
On stage through October 26, 2025.
(Say, what ever happened to Diane and Nick? Click here after you’ve seen the show. Photo montage, top, courtesy of Northern Stage. Photo credit: Kata Sasvari)
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And in case you are wondering . . . Susan B. Apel shuttered a lifelong career as a law professor to continue an interest (since kindergarten) in writing. Her freelance business, The Next Word, includes literary and feature writing; her work has appeared in a variety of lit mags and other publications including Art New England, The Woven Tale Press, The Arts Fuse, Next Avenue, and Persimmon Tree. She connects with her neighbors through Artful, her blog about arts and culture in the Upper Valley. She’s in love with the written word.