The wonderful NWTAC (North West theatre Arts Company) based in Moston (North Manchester) have truly excelled themselves this time with their presentation of Sankoff and Hein's musical, 'Come From Away'.
Based on true events, this is the story of the small rural Newfoundland community of Gander, and the arrival of several thousand angry, dispirited, confused and tired passengers from 30 plus different aeroplanes, having been diverted and ordered to land at Gander following the events of September 11th, 2001, and the immediate closing of US air space. It is a story of how a community pulls together in the face of adversity, and the sometimes underestimated power of the human spirit.
Under Prab Singh's subtle and understated direction, this was a nuanced and extremely emotional production. I found myself welling up several times throughout as this talented ensemble tackled some rather tricky multi-rolling in this truly ensemble piece of theatre. It would hardly be fair for me to try and give character breakdowns etc since this was one extraordinary team effort and all pulled together to create believable - and often humorous - characters (never caricatures, although a couple came close!) We needed this injection of humour however, otherwise it would just have been too much for our emotional responses.
The movement (not really dancing as such, but choreographed nevertheless) was also nicely done and worked well. Musically directed by Ross Johnson was secure and I truly loved the ensemble sound with the lovely harmonies coming through.
The set was simple, but absolutely perfect for what was required, whilst costuming was also very cleverly considered. I truly enjoyed the 'Irishness' of the local newfoundland dialect - it wasn't perfect, but it was very good attempt from all, and this contrasted nicely with the more regular sounds of standard American and upper-class British. It was just a shame that we didn't get a Texan accent a well, as that would have been the cherry on top of the cake.
Lighting and sound was generally good, although a couple of times, the protagonist in a particular scene found themselves in darkness when singing / speaking.
Overall however, this was certainly one of the most proficient and professionally produced shows I have thus far seen from this company of fully-committed creatives who were all obviously sympathetic to the story they were telling and the characters they portrayed. Sensitive, sensible and poignant.
Reviewer - Alastair Zyggu
on - 19.5.26
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