Come From Away is a 2017 musical about the story of 38 planes with 7,000 passengers that were stranded in Gander, Newfoundland when American airspace was closed in the aftermath of 9/11.
Gander is in the unique position of being the furthest eastern point in North America and used to have a very busy airport as all airplanes crossing the Atlantic would stop there to fuel up before crossing the ocean. However, as technology progressed, the need to stop at their airport lessened, leaving the small 9,300 person town with a large, underused airport. But that did make it an ideal place to take in these diverted planes.
Once the planes landed, no one was allowed to leave, for fear of further terrorist action. Some of those people were stuck on their plane for over 24 hours. And beyond that, they were not allowed to reclaim luggage, food and drink was limited (though some planes helped themselves to their liquor stores), not to mention how crowded and hot the planes undoubtedly got.
Eventually, they were allowed off their planes – but there was still no reentry allowed into the US, so these people needed a place to stay in this small Canadian town, and ended up staying there for five days.
The people of Gander stepped up to this challenge and opened their hearts and homes to these 7,000 people, almost doubling the population of their small town. There wasn’t even a consideration of if they could do this, they simply knew they had to. They had all these people to take care of and they were going to take care of them.
Image from the "Come From Away" performance in Gander, Newfoundland. The crochet squares were all made by people personally affected by 9/11.
In 2011, playwrights Irene Sankoff and David Hein visited Gander for the 10th anniversary for the “Come From Aways”, what the Gander locals called the people that had been stuck there those five days back in 2001. They had heard of this fascinating story, and they wanted to interview as many people as they could with the intention of writing a musical about the experience.
They came away with so many stories that the first draft of that musical was one hundred hours.
Somehow, they pared down the stories to a 100 minute musical about the amazing humanity displayed in this situation, telling the stories of various locals – such as teachers (the local was school was used as a ‘hotel’ for 700 people), police, and news reporters – and travelers – including a couple that met during this event and are still married to this day, the first female captain of American Airlines, boyfriends both named Kevin, and many more.
The tales of the lengths these people went to welcome their “Come From Aways” is stunning to listen to. One of my favorites is how the local news was constantly listing things that were needed in the various places housing the travelers, and Gander Academy needed toilet paper. An hour and a half later, the radio station got word from Gander Academy saying, “For the love of God, please stop bringing us toilet paper.” They had filled a whole classroom, mostly with single rolls. According to the newscaster, the janitor never forgave them.
This was a common theme over those five days. People brought food, sometimes from the very supper they had just fixed, and anything else anyone could possibly need to these people stranded on their island.
The plane people also represented 96 different countries, making communication difficult for many. But one bus driver shared a story of taking a bus full of people from Africa from the airport to where they were going, but the passengers didn’t understand and were understandably scared by everything that was going on. But he saw one of them had a bible, and this man knew that even if he couldn’t read it, it would have the same numbering system. So, he asked to borrow it and showed them Philippians 4.6: “Don’t be anxious for anything.” And that was how they started to speak the same language.
I actually had the privilege to see this show in New York City a few months before it closed on Broadway in 2022. It has twelve cast members, each person portraying multiple roles – an example of how these are all human experiences that tie us together – and the set is simply twelve chairs. It is a powerful experience that leaves you full of hope for humanity.
If you wish to see it yourself, which I highly recommend, it is going to be in Cleveland from August 13-18th!
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