Review: Come From Away at Liverpool Empire *****

Just like those other shell-shocking moments in time, those of us who were alive then know exactly where we were and what we were doing on September 11, 2001.

Most of us were going about our normal life; sitting at a desk, doing the weekly shop, waiting for a train, walking the dog.

And thousands of people that Tuesday were in the skies, on their way somewhere when the aviation world came to a sudden halt.

Almost 7,000 of them (along with 19 animals) were diverted to Gander airport in Newfoundland where the local community – population 11,254 - rallied round to welcome those who had ‘come from away’ as strangers are known on the remote Canadian island.

Come From Away the musical is the real-life story of five days in September, a tale of ordinary people caught up in an extraordinary situation who (mostly) rose to the challenge with grace, humour and selflessness.

And like that other frequent flier Mary Poppins, it’s practically perfect in every way.

As news breaks of planes being flown into the Twin Towers, the good people of Gander – led by mayor Claude (Nicholas Pound) - swing into action to transform every available space into temporary accommodation, raid shops, cupboards and larders for food and other supplies, and persuade striking school bus drivers to get back behind the wheel to ferry people from A to B.

Above and top: Come From Away.

Then they embrace the confused and frightened passengers and crew into the community, and over the course of several days, friendships (and, in the case of Daniel Crowder’s British businessman Nick and Kirsty Hoiles’ Texan divorcee Diane, relationships) are formed, and lives are changed in profound ways, both good and bad.

Ingenious solutions are found to unfolding problems, and barriers of language or culture are overcome.

Writers and composers Irene Sankoff and David Hein may channel Newfoundlanders’ dry, wry humour – Come From Away is often very, very funny, but they also don’t shy away from the gut-punching raw emotion of the situation, or from the discomfort of watching tempers fray or the treatment of those who appear to be ‘different’ or acting strangely.

Above: The actors are augmented by a live band on stage.

The versatile 12-strong cast play a total of 84 characters – all based on real people or composites of real people – from kind-hearted Gander teacher Beulah (Amanda Henderson) to American Airlines pilot Beverley (Sara Poyzer), and Hannah (Bree Smith) the frantic mother of a missing New York firefighter, to Egyptian Muslim Ali who faces suspicion and hostility from other passengers (actor Jamal Zulfiqar, who also plays the sardonic, antsy half of a West Coast gay couple both called Kevin).

There’s a visceral sense of urgency and confusion as the news emerges from New York and Washington and the first of 38 planes land at the airport, and the energy continues throughout the 100-minute straight through running time.

The storytelling - intertwined with an irresistible soundtrack anchored by a crack band of musicians who inhabit the fringes of the stage - is impeccable and the performances are utterly compelling.

It’s all too easy to feel jaded by the world we find ourselves living in, particularly at present. But the story of what happened in Gander goes some way to restoring faith in humanity.

Uplifting, inspirational, humbling, heartfelt, heartbreaking and heart lifting, Come From Away is everything you could want from a live theatrical experience.