Making good art out of an event as horrific as the 9/11 attacks is no small feat. Perhaps for that reason, of the hundreds of books, documentaries, TV shows, and feature films about the event, only a handful have risen to the top of our consciousness during the quarter-century since the attack. 

Less well known are works created for the theater, several of which are substantial. Plays and musicals inspired by 9/11 have taken a wide variety of approaches—from Sam Shepard’s political critique The God of Hell to the black comedy Good Morning Gitmo, from the surreal Omnium Gatherum (dinner-party guests engage in a geopolitical debate) to Wajahat Ali’s The Domestic Crusaders about the impact the event had on the lives of a Pakistani-American family.

But the stage work that has received the most attention since its premiere in 2017 is a musical that focuses on the generosity and kindness that the tragedy inspired. Come from Away by David Hein and Irene Sankoff tells the remarkable story of the 6,700 stranded commercial passengers who had to land in Gander, Newfoundland when American airspace was shut down.

Based on dozens of interviews both with native Newfoundlanders and with the international visitors who had “come from away,” the play disarmed the theater world at its 2017 Broadway premiere—having gathered steam for two years with versions in San Diego, Seattle, Toronto, and other cities. 

“Even the most stalwart cynics may have trouble staying dry-eyed during this portrait of heroic hospitality under extraordinary pressure,” wrote Ben Brantley in The New York Times of the Broadway production, which won a fistful of prizes and was nominated for seven Tony Awards (winning for Best Direction). 

This September 1st through the 20th, the Kansas City Repertory Theatre marks the 25th anniversary of 9/11 with a new production of the musical, featuring sets by designer Courtney O’Neill (known for her extraordinary work here on Peter Pan and Wendy, Little Shop of Horrors, and other productions). 

“It’s important to share this story not only on the anniversary, but in this current social and political environment,” said Rep Artistic Director Stuart Carden, who directs the production. “It is a beautiful example of how our best selves can reach across spaces of difference and lean into generous acts.”

The Rep has programmed its production to coincide with the exact period in September 2001 in which the “come from awayers” were in Gander. “It was programmed both with the tragic events of September 11th in mind, but also to focus on the really courageous and human-centered response of the Newfoundlanders.” Stuart said. “How do ordinary people choose generosity, when fear and scarcity tell them not to? It’s a question that is universal and timeless but is also immediate for us right now, at a moment in our history when there’s a lot of fearmongering going on about people who are ‘other.’ “

On those fateful days in 2001, Gander and several nearby communities took in strangers from all parts of the globe: housing and feeding and clothing them, filling their prescriptions for free, and even entertaining them in the most good-natured fashion possible. “This play asks us to remember differently some aspects of that extraordinary moment when so much changed, for Americans and the world,” Stuart said. He added that the production will include chiefly Kansas City-based actors and will feature “wrap-around” activities highlighting local non-profits that aid refugees and immigrant communities.

A number of the 9/11 passengers made lifelong friends among the residents of Gander, and many still travel to Newfoundland to mark anniversaries and to memorialize those lost in the attacks. Others travel world to attend performances of the musical. The real-life Captain Beverley Bass, whose American Airlines Flight 49 is front-and-center in the show, had seen 182 performances as of this May.

Jenn Colella, who played Beverley on Broadway, made an early connection with the fearless pilot, who was American Airline’s first female captain. “Not only was this person able to take care of her crew and her passengers and hold herself together while trying to connect with her family,” Jenn told a reporter for CBC-radio, “but’s she’s also a pioneer for women in a male-driven career.” 

The casting of Come from Away is critical in conveying the message of “I am you and you are me.” Each of 12 actors play both Newfoundlanders and passengers: shifting their voices, accents, and physical presence every few minutes. (The cast is listed as “Bonnie and others,” “Beverley/Annette and others,” and so forth.) 

“It’s an incredible and fun challenge for the actors,” Stuart said, adding that there is a distinct island accent to learn and even a 5,000-word Dictionary of Newfoundland English. “That duality, the embodiment of both the stranger and the receiver is a beautiful metaphor that resonates through the piece. There will be times when we are the stranger and in need of help, and there will be times when we’re the ones with the opportunity to reach out and offer an act of generosity or kindness.” 

The Rep’s creative team has been given freedom to interpret, and the production offers fresh perspectives. “Our version is going to take place in an open-ended airplane hangar,” Stuart said. “We’re leaning into the idea that this community is coming together to retell the story, to recount the events of that time for a new generation. … And through that gathering-space—the open-air airplane hangar, and above and around—we’re really leaning into nature, sky, the cosmos, the sense of how isolated Gander is, but also how poetic and beautiful it is.” 

How did Gander end up with so many airplanes that day? During the early days of international travel, Newfoundland Airport (as it was called) had become one of several crucial refueling stops for transcontinental flights.

Situated on an island that locals called “The Rock,” during the1930s and ’40s Gander was quite literally the largest airport in the world. Thus when terrorists seized planes, the outsized and largely unused “YQX” was an ideal place to prematurely ground flights bound for U.S. airports. 

However brief a moment in history this might have been, the period after 9/11 was one that, in the words of Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Geraldine Brooks, “revealed heroism in ordinary people who might have gone through their lives never called upon to demonstrate the extent of their courage.” This expressed itself in ways large and small: from the heroism of first responders who gave up their lives to save others, to simple acts of kindness by ordinary people. 

“At some point in our lives we’ve been helped by a stranger, or we’ve done a small act of kindness for our stranger,” Stuart said. “And that kind of reaffirmation of the goodness and humanity that there is in the world feels really important right now.”

Come from Away remains an unusual work in that it is a “docu-musical,” a play drawn from real sources that have been conveyed with only slightly tweaked accuracy. “There are so many unique, curious, specific events that week that seem unbelievable, but actually happened,” Stuart said. “Such as the Screech-In Ceremony, where folks are inducted into being honorary Newfoundlanders by kissing a cod and taking a drink of this terrible Screech Rum.” The joy with which the visitors embraced the local traditions “just rings true and honest,” he added, “and celebrates both our differences and our connections to one another.” 
 
—By Paul Horsley
 
For tickets to the Rep’s season-opening production of Come from Away, call 816-235-2700 or go to kcrep.org. Stuart Carden directs, and the cast, in alphabetical order, includes  Lauren Braton, Val Fagan, Sinclair Freeman, Robert Hingula, Russell Konstans, Noah Lindquist, Tina Maddigan Mayer, Cody Proctor, Adam Qutaishat, Julie Shaw, Bethany Thomas, and Bri Wood. To reach Paul Horsley, performing arts editor, send an email to paul@kcindependent.com or find him on Facebook (paul.horsley.501) or Twitter/Instagram (@phorsleycritic).