Come From Away is a story of Canadian hospitality during a crisis that stopped the world. The events of September 11th stained our history books and our lives afterwards. This is just a snapshot of the world in Gander, Newfoundland and the lives that were displaced during the tumultuous times. You meet a cavalcade of characters and their personal lives: each meant to draw you in through the raw human pathos. 

This show is a collaboration between Suzart and Maple Leaf Theatre Productions, something that I’ve always wanted to see done: local companies coming together and collaborating. For being such a tight-knit community, it’s odd how this is one of the first collaborations of this kind between companies. I know companies assist others through going to see their shows, lending costumes/props, and other things not publicly visible; however, I would love to see companies work on producing shows together in the future. I know it’s easy to say this and that the logistics behind it would be a nightmare, but someone has to take the first step right?

From a band perspective, the show sounded amazing. Vocally, the show was also great. For example, the tender moment between Nick (Andrew Galligan) and Diane (Sara Creighton) was so well done and the chemistry between the two was downright infectious. Both really tugged on the heartstrings as the absolute desperation of wanting to stay in that moment was felt through their voices. You also see the entire cast absolutely living their best life in what I think is the most fun part of the show: “In the Bar/Heave Away” and “Screech In”. It looked and felt like an absolute party that would make you want to take a trip to also become honorary Newfoundlanders. 

Opposite of that are my two favourite songs in the whole show: “I Am Here” and “Me and the Sky”. Hannah’s (Kathleen Arbour) solo and continuation of the story at the end of “Something’s Missing” is one of the most heart-wrenching storylines in the whole show. It plays on the fear of every mother that your child passes before you do. The absolute desperation, helplessness, and fear that transforms into complete devastation on that phone call back to Beulah (Leah MacMillan) was lost. For me, Arbour overemoted during that call and it detracted from her vocal performance. With Beverley (Jennifer Grimsey) her life was a world telling her she can’t do something because she was a woman. The determination and drive is pivotal to this character. While Grimsey is vocally perfect and provides a clear sound, the performance is bereft of character and emotion. Both actors did great work outside of these moments, but these moments are some of the most crucial moments in the show and they just needed more polish. 

Come From Away to me is a show that is character driven and story driven at the same time. Each character plays such a vital role in creating the world and connecting the audience with the text and this is where I think the production struggled. A lot of missed emotions and drive for some of the characters that led to a disconnect from the text. That being said, there was some outstanding character work, especially from Bonnie (Kelly Fuoco) and Doug (Jacob Atkinson). These two had such a believable onstage marriage and Fuoco’s delivery was phenomenal.

Now, this show is a movement show so the choreography isn’t meant to be complex, but it still has to be effective and it has to help drive the story. Megan Tolmie does a fantastic job in creating some clean and cohesive choreo, especially during “Welcome to the Rock”, “In the Bar/Heave Away”, “Screech In”, and “Finale”. Then there were moments that just felt odd and out of place that didn’t feel the same as those big moments. One big offender was during “Stop the World”. Nick and Diane are supposed to be in this photographic moment where each of them are in their own world and questioning whether they should bring those worlds together. It’s this private moment where they’re both fighting with their internal dialogue and whether they should act on their feelings for one another. Galligan and Creighton provide such a tender moment that really makes you root for their coupling. This moment is then intruded by a small ensemble that is oddly placed on the opposite side of the stage in a small corner. Instead of supporting that world, it drew focus away from the couple. I can see the vision and idea of this moment, but I think the execution of it was just a little off. 

I was struggling with some casting decisions of this show and I want to preface that I auditioned and I was not offered a role. MTI also has guidelines and changes to the script that are pre-approved to allow more flexible casting with regards to casting Bob and Hannah as non-black actors. One of the biggest issues I had was with the character Ali (Ryan Mendoza). I find this is a problem in Ottawa local theatre that POC actors are often relied on to play roles of characters that are either a stretch or downright different. I can detail one moment where I received communication from a company asking me to audition and if I knew of any other Asian actors in Ottawa. The issue with this show is I believe they have a cast member who is Middle Eastern. I also find that having board members being casted can be a point of contention because there is a huge power dynamic between board members and the directing team that should be avoided. Again, this is not solely a Suzart problem, but a problem with other companies as well. 

My picks for outstanding performers would have to be Leach MacMillan as Beulah, Andrew Galligan as Nick, Jacob Atkinson as Doug, and Clarissa Fortin as Janice. All of these performers did an amazing job embodying the heart and soul of their character.

I think overall this show was well-put together, considering the huge pivot they had to do because of the loss of their original venue. Not only did they have to find a new venue, but with a new venue comes the innumerable amount of variables that rear their head when it comes to that change. I do not envy the team that had to tackle those problems. Suzart has done a good job for this production and considering the challenges they had to face; however, I think that the issues that I have with the show were not directly related to those challenges.