Come From Away is 'a celebration of the goodness in people'

But Come From Away, which opens at The Lowry next week for an extended run over Christmas, takes one of the darkest days in recent history and shines a light on to the resolve and essential goodness in folk affected.

Sara Poyzer as Captain Beverley Bass in Come From Away As the towers fell, America’s airspace was shutdown to inbound flights. The 39 planes heading to America were all diverted and landed at Gander in Newfoundland. On board were 7,000 passengers and crew. Come From Away is the story of how the local community embraced this massive influx of stranger - Gander’s population was only 10,000 souls - and took care of them.

“As soon as you say to somebody it’s set on a remote island and it’s about 9/11 you can see people’s attention wandering off,” said Sara Poyzer, one of the stars of the show.

“But our producer said something brilliant actually. He said it’s not about 9/11 it’s about 9/12; it’s about the kindness and humanity and generosity of strangers who took care of these people who were terrified and stranded.

“What’s really important for people to know about Come From Away is that it’s really funny too.

“Yes, 9/11 is the background to it and it’s certainly not to make light of that terrible tragedy. But everything you see on stage is true. People really came together and took care of each other.

“There are loads of beautifully light moments in the show as well as some heart-breakingly difficult ones. But that’s like all great musicals, you get this run of emotions.”

Come From Away was a huge hit on Broadway, receiving seven Tony nominations and spent almost four years in London’s West End.

Sara, who has a wealth of West End experience, including spending more than eight years in Mamma Mia plays Captain Beverley Bass, pilot of one of the grounded planes.

“In terms of a musical, it might not seem like the obvious choice for people,” she said. “But I left Mamma Mia which I adore to tell this story because the musical is just so bloody brilliant.”

As part of the rehearsal process for the tour - Come From Away has been visiting theatre around the UK since the beginning of the year - the cast were encouraged to talk to the real-life characters they portray.

“I really wanted to find out about Captain Bass and her experiences,” said Sara. “She is an amazing woman who has been a real trailblazer.

“She always wanted to fly but grew up at a time where everyone said that just wasn’t possible. There was a lot of sexism around but she just fought through it and became the first female pilot for American Airlines.

Sara Poyzer as Captain Beverley Bass in Come From Away“Then she ended up in charge of one of the planes diverted to Gander. One of her friend was the pilot of the plane which crashed close to the Pentagon.

“Throughout it all she told me that she had to maintain an aura of authority; she was Captain Bass all the time she was in Gander. She just felt there was so much confusion that she needed to maintain that professional front. It was only when she was finally reunited with her husband that she was able to let her emotions out.

“She is a remarkable woman. She’s 72 and still flying.”

A cast of 12 tell the story of many of the passengers and also of the inhabitants of Gander who played key roles during their town’s ‘invasion’.

“We didn’t want to do an impression of anyone,” said Sara, “but we wanted to capture that sense of who they are.

“It’s very unusual to be playing a non famous person who is still alive.”

Come From Away doesn’t have an interval, it’s done straight through.

“We want to capture that relentlessness that the people of Gander felt,” she said. “Things didn’t stop for the five days everyone was grounded there. They didn’t know what was going to happen, many had loved ones or friends who might have been around the Twin Towers.

“But life had to go on. There were 7,000 breakfasts needed every day, people needed clothes and shelter.

“We did so much research and one of the stories we heard was of a doctor who went 72 hours without sleep basically just writing out prescriptions for all those people who needed medicine. They were not allowed to take baggage from the plane and supplies had to be flown in by the army.

“It was a frenetic time and we want to recreate that atmosphere on stage.”

The cast of Come From Away

To create such an emotional atmosphere puts extra demands on the entire cast.

“This piece requires more pinpoint concentration than anything I’ve ever done,” said Sara. “There are 12 actors on stage and everything is so tightly woven that if a beat is missed you can feel the wheels start to come off. You can’t miss a chair placement, it’s so intricately based on team work. Then you’ve got the storytelling on top of that - it’s a real challenge but what a privilege.”

Being at The Lowry until January means that the cast get to settle into Manchester over Christmas.

“I’ve toured here many times and I’ve got family in Manchester so it’s going to be great to have some time here,” said Sara.

Come From Away, The Lowry, Salford, Tuesday, December 3 to Sunday, January 5. Details from www.thelowry.com