Come From Away just opened at the Paramount Theatre, and it is, as expected, fabulous. It does, however, need warning labels if you are unfamiliar with the plot, and in some cases, even if you are familiar with the story they’re unfolding on stage, particularly if you’re of an age to remember the foundational event: September 11th, 2001. In that case, it’s likely to bring up memories, shared these so many years, of near misses, such as the friend who was late for work that day or family members who flew out of New York the day before, or of the ones who weren’t so lucky.
Come From Away is not fundamentally about the disaster that occurred. Rather, it approaches this historic event from the town of Gander, on an island which is part of Newfoundland in Canada. If you can’t immediately place that on a map without help, don’t worry, neither could I. Or most of the people whose flights were stranded there – 38 planes were rerouted to Gander when US air space closed because of the terrorist attacks.
The story told is primarily about how Gander rallied to host these stranded travelers whose presence almost doubled Gander’s population, and the friendships that were formed in those handful of days. Instead of replaying the disaster details themselves, the horrors of that day are portrayed in the cast members’ reactions, particularly the desperate attempts by the travelers to reach family and friends back in a time when most of us weren’t carrying cell phones everywhere. The creators made a good effort to break up the serious moments with odd bits of appropriate humor, so rest assured, you won’t be crying the entire time.
There is a brief glimpse of the beginnings of the Islamophobia that spawned from September 11th, but the story ends before reaching the infringements on our constitutional rights from the Patriot Act and the blatant imperialism of the wars the United States launched in revenge. Instead, the story manages to end on a high note celebrating the friendships forged in Gander.