Review: Come From Away brings its celebration of human kindness to Milton Keynes Theatre

Now, Come From Away, an incredible real-life story of human kindness is on its first UK and Ireland tour and this week it has touched down at Milton Keynes Theatre.

It tells the tale of 7,000 air passengers from all over the world who were grounded in Canada during the wake of 9/11, and the small Newfoundland community that invited these ‘come from aways’ into their lives.

We begin as the sleepy community of Gander, whose tiny airport is used to dealing with six flights a day, get a rather abrupt wake-up call as countless aircraft are suddenly inbound.

The panic for supplies that the thousands of unexpected arrivals are going to need is handled superbly, with some fantastically comical moments thrown in for good measure.

The story switches to one of the aircrafts and this is where this show excelled – the regular, quick and seamless transitions of the 12-strong cast between scenes where they played the locals and where they played the passengers. A hasty move of some props, some swift costume tweaks, and in seconds they’d flicked that switch and were in their alternative roles. One minute the cast were having an alcohol-induced sing-song on the plane to stop themselves freaking out, next second they’re at a check-in desk, and then we see locals planning for their arrival. It really was remarkable to see.

The show lasted one hour and 40 minutes and unusually there was no interval. You can see why though, as the producers obviously didn’t want to lose any momentum as we’re drawn into these people’s lives.

There’s the first female American Airlines captain, the quick-thinking town mayor, the mother of a New York firefighter and the eager local news reporter. Then there’s the intriguing blossoming romance between two passengers – but can their love story go anywhere when they’re destined to go to their respective homes in America and the UK in a few days’ time when the crisis is over?

Come From Away has a continuous flow with few chances for the cast or audience to pause for breath, or even for us to give a rousing applause of appreciation after an impressive sequence.

One great scene is when, days later with no clue as to when airspace will re-open, the locals notice that their guests are ‘starting to crack’. The answer? Get them down the bar for a rather odd initiation ceremony to make them honorary Newfoundlanders – by kissing a fish!

Unusually for a review I’m not going to single out any of the cast as this was very much a polished team effort. The majority of the songs saw each character get a couple of lines of lyrics before the spotlight switches to the next in line to deliver the goods emphatically.

Come From Away is an energetic, poignant, and slick production which will restore your faith in humanity. It runs until Saturday, November 30. Book your tickets here.