"Come From Away" Review

                                    “Come from Away”  

          This afternoon, we were seeing the dramatic production “Come from Away.” We arrived at the venerable Artis Naples complex, that houses the philharmonic hall and the Baker Art Museum. The facility had completed a sixty-million-dollar renovation recently and sparkled in the noon day sun. We had coffee, sitting in the atrium between the museum and theater. The arriving audience was an eclectic mixture of senior citizens. We always try to speculate on who they are and from where they had come. Naples is a cross roads for many American and European communities. Just before opening, we had to pass in review before several serious-minded officials. One checked our vaccination card and compared it to our photo I.D.- drivers license. He reminded us that masks are required in the hall. We showed him our masks and headed in. Then, an elderly volunteer scanned our tickets as we walked into the luxurious setting. People, all wearing asks, were milling about the grand entrance hall, admiring various works of art and sculpture that were on display. A small crowd were surrounding the standing bar, asking for a variety of spirits. We are always careful here. We call it “water discipline.” What doesn’t go in, doesn’t have to come out during a lengthy performance.

The seats at the back of the lower hall are familiar to us. We have sat here often for other performances. Their location was fine for viewing or listening to any type of performance and made it possible for a quick exit afterward, ahead of  the mob of exiting Theater goers. The ushers were busy seating their aging customers. Many, many people wandered around looking for their seats, apparently first-time attendees.

           The play, written by Irene Sankoff and David Hein, is based on the novel The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland: By Jim Defede.It commemorates a small community in Northeastern Canada  that housed and entertained several thousand guests, for four fateful days. They were air passengers, stranded  immediately after the 9/11 attacks in NYC and Washington D.C. The humor, decency and courage, displayed by these hardy Canadians, inspired us all. Passengers and locals process what happened, while finding hope in unlikely and lasting bonds with other passengers and towns people. “Come from Away” is the name that local Newfoundlanders give to all visitors to the area.

Gander is the site of North America's only Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery. At the time of its completion in 1938, the then 'Newfoundland Airport' was the largest airfield on the planet, with four huge paved runways covering a combined area of one square mile. Most multi engine, prop driven aircraft had to refuel there before making their jump across the pond. The newer jets, with increased fuel capacity, made the stop obsolete and the base was virtually abandoned.

Just after two P.M. the lights dimmed and a wonderful one-hour and forty-five-minute musical variety show opened, with an energetic performance by a cast of twenty. The minimalist set did not detract from the imagery portrayed. The well-coordinated cast sat and  posed in rows of passengers, flying in from Europe towards various destinations in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.Mysteriously, the plane Captain announced that the plane was ordered to immediate land. The locale was over a very dark piece of the northeaster Canada, near the coastal town of Gander Newfoundland. Repeated questioning by the passengers provided no answers. After landing, the passengers were all kept clueless and onboard the craft for over 24 hours. The actors skillfully portrayed the annoyance, anger and confusion amidst the passengers, interspersed with humorous anecdotes about relationships. They were but one plane, amongst 38 others, that had been ordered to land in Gander, comprising some 7,000 souls, six dogs, seven cats and two monkeys.

The population of Gander, all 9,000 of them, had mobilized to meet the wave of guests. Virtually every one of the townspeople shared bed, board, supplies and even clothes to the unexpected guests. The interplay between the small town Mayor, and the sole press rep, with various town residents, was delightfully interlaced with endearing self-deprecatory, rural Canadian humor. A central venue, Tim Horton’s, was often the meeting ground.

During the next five days, these generous souls fed and cared for all of their many arrivals from various countries. They shared everything that they had and refused payment for same. Their acts of common decency, personal valor and concern for other humans would evoke the occasional mist to the eyes, marveling at how good and decent people can be at their best. When the passengers did fly out, they left behind or mailed afterwards almost one million dollars in scholarships funds for various residents of the area, to show their appreciation.

Still, as I watched this wonderful and entertaining musical performance, in my mind’s eyes reeled the pictures of the twin towers in NYC and The Pentagon being struck by airplanes in flight. And as a finale, the twin towers in NYC collapsing, with some 3,000 souls lost. The remembrance of the personal valor, of the rescue teams who lost their lives, also brought mist to the eyes. One of the passengers lost a son, who was a NYC rescue personnel. It was referenced in the dialogues to represent all of the great losses of the day.

The high energy performance is an emotional upper. A series of musical numbers recount the tragic events, the grounding of the planes and the disarray of the passengers. The Canadian self-deprecatory humor is endearing. It is small-town centered and spot on. Tim Horton’s is the daily meeting ground. The play deals with anti-gay, anti-muslim feelings and delves into how rural people cope with just about everything. Their big-hearted generosity makes one’s eyes mist over.

The entire audience rose, at Play’s end, to give this energetic cast a hearty round of thunderous applause. We were entertained, inspired and appreciative of what we had seen. We also sent out a silent nod to those wonderful, generous neighbors of ours to the North, who had shown the world decency and grace in tragedy.

Go and see this wonderful musical, if you can. You will come away like we did for an appreciation of all that is good and decent in the human spirit.

                                                     -30-

                                             (1,056 words)

                                           Joseph Xavier Martin